A Shelter from the Rain


Prologue: Despite Everything, Once Again He Leaps


Author's Note: Organic Chem exam is done. It…wasn't great, but not irreparable either. At least I know what kind of thing to expect going forward. On a happier note, I got Feixiao in HSR. No longer Lacking my Lacking General, just need to build up her team when I'm not too busy with school and ZZZ.


"Let me give you some advice Hikigaya." Hiratsuka let out a small sigh as she rubbed her forehead, looking down at the paper on her desk. It was after-school and the day's Service Club had been cancelled since Yukinoshita had some family matters to attend to and Yuigahama was out with her friends for the day, so Hiratsuka had called him in after-hours to speak. "I know you seemed convinced about this whole 'loner' thing, but you are going about this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?" Hachiman understood what she meant, even if he disagreed.

"You've been burned before, so to avoid getting hurt you've retreated into yourself." She answered. "At least, from what I've garnered through reading your essays along with some of Yukinoshita's insights."

"I didn't think she would deign to speak of me outside of the club mediated hours." They weren't friends after all, hardly acquaintances honestly.

"I doubt you've already forgotten why I had you join the Club in the first place." Hiratsuka snorted. "Yukinoshita certainly hasn't. She is a good person, deep down."

"So you say."

"Anyway, I do understand how you feel." He levelled a glare at her, to which she cocked her eyebrow up almost antagonistically. "I do. Why do you think I'm still single? I've got a killer body, great taste in media, and a killer car. If I really wanted to, I'm sure I could find someone!"

Out of kindness, he would avoid mentioning her morose cried words whenever she spotted any publicly affectionate couples. For both of their sakes, honestly.

"But a few unpleasant experiences have been enough to soil the very idea of doing so." Hiratsuka continued. "It is so much work and eventually you find yourself wondering why bother."

"You are talking about romance." He decided to emphasize. "In regard to me, it is all the trappings of youth in general. Besides, don't you join me in complaining about such things?"

"It is the privilege of the old to laugh and tribulations of the new." Hiratsuka laughed, though it rang a bit hollow.

"I think you might be trying too hard to sound wise Sensei, not to mention it also makes you sound super old." Hachiman spoke plainly, only to be met with a light punch in the stomach that was hard enough to catch his attention but hardly doing more than making him bend slightly over. Even that was from the shock of the action more than anything else.

"You not talking to people has degraded your basic conversation skills!" Hiratsuka glared. "Otherwise, you would have known how impolite it is to speak about a woman's age so haphazardly"

"Counterpoint." He eventually replied as he straightened back up. "If I truly embraced my Loner Persona and used the power of the Anti-Social-Link, I wouldn't have had a conversation that would lead me to getting punched."

Hiratsuka looked at him as if he were some kinds of deformed insect twitching in her ramen bowl.

"I see that just my words won't be enough to sway that rotten mind of yours." She groaned. "I guess I'll just hope that Yukinoshita can get through to you. Seeing a student fall into such depths and not being able to do anything about it makes me feel like a shitty teacher."

"You are a good teacher." Hachiman found himself reassuring her. "Most wouldn't bother even trying to help at all."

She laughed at his words, though her face soon turned to melancholy.

"Just because most other teachers suck doesn't mean that I'm good solely by comparison." True, but it was all the truth that Hiratsuka made sure her students were learning and even offered reliable counseling, to the point where even the practically socially isolated Hachiman was aware of her mostly positive to neutral reputation amongst the student body. "What do you plan to do once you get back home, since the Service Club is out of commission for the day?"

"Finish homework, study, and then read some light novels." His plans had been formulated far earlier in the day, after he finished lunch and had just sat around waiting for time to pass by. Like a true loner. "I have a selection that I was hoping to get around to read, but my eviction from the 'Going-Home Club' has put a damper in getting around to doing so."

"Truly, your loss has been felt there." Hiratsuka pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "The Club just isn't the same without you…since no one else is shameless enough to say they are part of it."

A critical hit! Was 'Going-Home Club' out of fashion amongst those imbeciles with the attention span of a particularly dull goldfish? Either way Hachiman had no chance of denying the jab, so he could only take it with dignity.

And by dignity, he meant making snarky comments on her age and love-life. In the sanctity of his own mind, of course. That would show her!

"Why do I feel like you are thinking of something really annoying?" The gorilla woman in question punched her right fist into her right palm. If Hachiman was carefully, he would find himself blasting off like some D-list villain of the week. "Damn, I need a drink. You can go Hikigaya, though don't think I'm giving up on you!"

She flashed him a grin and assumed a pose worthy of that guy with the Trench-coat from gym class.

"No teacher worth their salt can turn their backs on a student in need!" How corny. Now say it again, but in heavily accented English for absolutely no reason! "Wasn't that cool? They need to write a manga about a great older female sensei, teaching students and finding love!"

Whatever slight aura she might have gained was almost immediately broken. A true girl-failure. Oh wait, more like hag-failure.

"I guess there can even be some rotten to the core, parasite of society student as well." She continued on and actually, wasn't that description oddly familiar? "In case you were wondering, yes I was indeed referring to you."
He didn't really know what to say that, so he just shot her an unimpressed glare at which point she simply chuckled.

"I'm just joking a bit Hikigaya." Her smile dimmed slightly. "You can go home now, sorry for taking up so much extra time. It's just nice to talk so unrestrained with someone, anyone I guess."

Did she really have to add the 'anyone'? Or was it possible she was talking in general and not specifically to him?

"But first, I'm going to give you a small homework assignment." Seriously? "Don't look like that, it is going to be pretty straightforward."

"That doesn't mean easy."

"Most worthwhile things are hardly so." At least on that, he could agree.

"Before the end of next week, I want you to do a single good thing for a stranger." She shot him a wink. "Maybe you'll charm some girl with chivalrous knights on the mind and you can even…thank me…at your…wedding."

As her words caught up with her, his teacher appeared to enter some sort of catatonic state.

"Married…before me…my student?" Her eyes hollow an empty. This was the true nature of the Christmas cake. Beautiful and appealing on the outside but filled with misery and tears on the inside.

"And how exactly will you be confirming this 'good deed'." Hachiman decided to drag her out of her melancholy. Partly so he could go home and partly because even he wasn't heartless enough to leave someone who was trying to help him for such earnest reasons in such a state. "I imagine any good impression will be undercut by seeming to commercialize my act of charity."

"First of all, you could have just gone for a selfie or something." Hiratsuka answered, taking any excuse to change her train of thought and growing quite smug for a woman who had been on the verge of tears mere moments prior. "Second, you won't need proof. I can see through you pretty well, so I am sure that when I check in on you tomorrow, you'll fess up to anything and everything anyway."

What an easily exploitable system! His teacher underestimated him if she thought he would find some way to circumvent the whole thing. It would be nice to avoid having to interact with someone. Especially a stranger. He had been meeting new people, including classmates he had never paid attention to, a bit too often recently.

"Oh, and I expect you to tell the whole experience to your little sister, Komachi." What. "I do have you land-line and if you try to prevent that, your address as well. I am sure that even if you can lie to me, you won't lie to your adorable little sister."

That was an almost devious plan. If it wasn't Hiratsuka who came up with it to torment him, he'd have been mildly impressed.

"Damn it."

"You have a sort of pattern in your actions and behaviors." She smirked smugly. "It means finding your weakness gives me extra damage!"

"Now shoo!" His teacher waved her hand at him dismissively. "I'm hungry and I got a nice pack of instant ramen in the teacher's lounge with my name written on it. I am speaking metaphorically and literally by the way!"

And even though she had dismissed him, it was Hiratsuka who bounded out of the room first and into the hallway like some ramen obsessed bloodhound.

"A good deed, huh?" A very Hiratsuka-like request. Though he imagined his good deed would be something like helping some old ladies cross the street rather than the more social requests that the Service Club seemed to have an affinity towards.

It sounded simple enough.


If there were Gods, it had never been more evident that they hated him.

Deciding to try and get Hiratsuka's inane request out of the way as quickly as possible, he had quite altruistically kept an eye out for any opportunity to help out someone. Alas, it seems for the first time the people of Chiba had decided to be competent and resourceful.

Eventually, despite his efforts, he returned to his home completely defeated.

"Big brother!" Komachi's pleased voice briefly reinvigorated him. "I'm so happy you're back! That earned me a lot of Komachi points, right? At least a trillion."

"If I give out that much, the inflation will make it worthless." Poor Spain had learned the power of inflation in the more arduous manner following their sacking of the New World, if his admittedly imperfect knowledge of European colonization was correct.

"You just lost a lot of points with that!"

"Good thing they had already lost all value at that point."

"Stupid brother!" Komachi's expression quickly turned haughty enough to be worthy of Yukinoshita herself. "They'll rise in value eventually!"

"Every single person who invests in crypto says that same thing." Hachiman sighed as Komachi simply pouted, unable to come up with a response. "How was school?"

"Ah, you know." Komachi winked at him, adorably. No, he did not know. Why would he ask otherwise!? "Talked with friends, ate lunch and stuff! All the important stuff."

For the sake of keeping the conversation civil and not losing any points, he would not mention that her description of the important stuff seemed to not include 'schoolwork'.

"That's good." Unlike him, Komachi was a social butterfly. All the cuteness in their genetics had gone to her. An acceptable price, though he feared one day he would have to defend that cuteness from the disgusting tide of maggots known as teenage boys. The natural enemy of a big brother was a little sister's suitor.

There was only room for so much love in Komachi's heart and he would not be pushed out by some bug!

"Big bro looks like he is thinking something super creepy." Komachi gasped. "But I'll forgive you anyway, hehe."

You have already destroyed the points economy Komachi, stop fishing for more! Don't you know what happened to Venezuela?

"Mom and dad aren't home?" He asked, though it was more reflex than anything else. Their parents were the quintessential Japanese wage slaves, out before dawn and back only after dusk. Companies under the Shinomiya conglomerate believed in draining the maximum amount of workplace efficiency out of their worker drones as possible, more the reason to avoid such a fate and become a trophy husband.

"Nope!" Komachi paused, her face growing troubled. "Big bro, Komachi forgot to tell you earlier, but we are out of food! If you don't go out and buy something, we'll starve!"

"You couldn't have written it down or something so I could pick stuff up on my way back?" Hachiman sighed, already reaching for his coat and shoes to head back out. "Didn't I buy a lot of frozen stuff last time to avoid this exact same circumstance?"

What was the point of thinking ahead if that thinking amounted to nothing? Truly, to work is to lose. Procrastination was indeed the path the gods intended for mankind.

"Well, Komachi's friends have come over a few times and we get hungry!" Had he forgotten to consider the variable of friendship in his food supply calculations? It was understandable, as a loner he had never had to truly put such thoughts into his plans. "Also, we ran out of cat food! Kamakura has been looking at me strangely!"

Don't be ridiculous Komachi. If Kamakura was going to eat anyone, it would be him. His eyes probably appealed to that cat's hungry senses.

"Fine." Hachiman groaned. "I'll go out and get some stuff. In the future, try to give me some sort of heads up."

"No promises!" That wasn't a topic to be smiling about, but he'd let it slide! "Now onwards! Your Komachi is getting hungry!"

"I'm already going!"

"Don't be late!" Komachi huffed. "You've already lost too many points; I might have to repossess your light novels if this keeps up!"

His little sister couldn't possibly be this bratty!


As he reached the lazily named convenience store, Riverside Convenience, the sun had just begun to rest over the horizon. The orange hue slowly fading into pink as the illumination of the surrounds slowly started to dim and the lights of the city itself began to come to life.

It was a beautiful image and even Hikigaya Hachiman could appreciate such a thing, if he were not on a last minute, inconvenient errand for his scatterbrained, but lovable, sister.

"It'll probably be dark by the time I get back." He muttered as he locked up his bike on the stand Glancing at the sky one more time allowed him to notice the rolling dark clouds up ahead, almost obscuring the sunset. The heavy winds that had almost tilted him enough to fall were a bad sign already, was this necessary as well? "And rain too? Just my rotten luck."

Perhaps an opportunity could come of this. He would be able to complete Hiratsuka's request easily enough without her butting into his personal life through Komachi. It could even be something small like helping the shopkeeper move some stuff or helping someone load their goods into their car.

Alas, the Gods of Fortune had decided to mess with him further as he was greeted by an empty parking lot and an emptier store. A blond clerk sat at the desk, but the depressed atmosphere surrounding him and the faint impression of bags under his eyes made it clear that human interaction should be kept at a minimum. Hachiman respected that and would not deny the older boy his chance at avoiding conversation.

Politely, he passed by and quickly gathered some cheap, but not dangerously so food items along with Kamakura's favorite brand. It would be best to give that cat incentives not to eat him one day. As swiftly as possible, he gathered the items and brought them to the clerk who began scanning and bagging them.

"Hikigaya?" And found his plans instantly foiled. "Uhm, actually I don't know who you are?"

"How do you know who I am?" That last minute change in attitude wouldn't fool anyone! You even phrased it as a question!

The blond boy, who upon closer inspection might actually be the same age as he, simply sighed.

"I guess the gig is up, I'm Shirogane. Shirogane Miyuki" The name sounded familiar, but why say it like that? Was he Agent 007? "We both go to Sobu, though I am a part of Class J."

So, one of Yukinoshita's people? Though why someone in the class of the elites in Sobu would be working part-time at a run-down convenience store was anyone's guess. Though it did explain why he would recognize him. Wait, no it didn't!

"That actually makes less sense!" Hachiman pointed out. "We aren't classmates, and I don't think we've interacted in any situation before this. In fact, how did you know what I looked like!"

S-stalker! Was his chastity in danger?

"I understand that this sounds rather…unusual." Shirogane admitted, speaking fast and waving his hands nervously. "I have been learning the names of schoolmates of a shared age and even some of the upperclassmen!"

Was that something everyone in Class J just happened to do?

"I am serious!" Shirogane reiterated, pulling at his collar. How many nervous ticks did this guy have? "I am hoping to run for Student Council president this year, since Shiromeguri is in her final year."

"Good luck?" With how nervously he had handled this random conversation, it seemed like he would need it.

"Thanks." Apparently, Shirogane understood this as he seemed to enter a catatonic state, passively scanning the last few items. A true worker, right down to his bones.

"Hikigaya." Shirogane said his name confidently, having dispelled his aura of discomfort from moments prior. "I would like to ask you a favor. I am not expecting you to accept, but please at least consider heeding my request."

Under most circumstances, he would have been extremely reluctant to even consider someone's request. However, with Hiratsuka's homework hanging over his head, he would welcome the opportunity as long as it wasn't too outlandish.

"I'll hear you out." This was one of the longest conversations he had outside of the Service Club. And the one of the weirder ones, both inside and out of the Club. Hiratsuka would be proud. He was living a truly youthful life at the moment. It made him want to puke.

"Please do not tell anyone that I am working a part-time job!" Shirogane begged, bowing hard enough to put his body into a right angle and almost touching the counter in front of him. "I really need this job and-"

"Don't worry." Hachiman cut him off. "I wouldn't have said anything anyways. I am not about to interfere with someone else's problems for no reason. You have your reasons, I'm sure."

Sure, it kind of sucked that he wouldn't be able to tell Hiratsuka about his altruistic deed, she was the kind of person who would definitely interfere with someone's life for no reason after all, but he wasn't about to self-righteously destroy someone's life based on his preconceptions.

"Erm." His fellow schoolmate apparently didn't know how to respond to that. "Thank you, Hikigaya. Oh, the machine has processed your payment."

"Alright." This was awkward. "Good night, I guess?"

"Likewise." Shirogane laughed, with his voice straining slightly. With a nod, Hachiman turned and began to walk away.

"Hikigaya." Again? He turned his head to see Shirogane give him a thumbs up, a genuine smile on his face, and literal tears on his face. "You're actually a really nice guy, aren't you?"

Despite himself, Hachiman rolled his eyes.

"Don't go telling anyone about that and we'll call it even."

As he left the store and dropped the bags into his bike's basket, he felt quite satisfied with that meeting. It was nice to have a conversation with someone that resolved itself so simply.

If only Yukinoshita could take some pointers from her classmate and become a tolerable human being.

"When it rains, it certainly pours." Hachiman laughed to himself as the brief time in the store had been enough for the rain to begin and it only seemed to be ramping up. "I can't really expect to wait it out, can I? Probably best to just walk with the bike rather than risk biking."

Biking in the dark was one thing.

Biking in the rain was another.

Biking in both the rain and the dark was just needlessly risky, especially since the roads in that part of the city were hardly in optimal conditions.

"PESU!" A voice called out. A girl's, in fact.

A quick glance over to the direction allowed him to understand what was going on rather swiftly. A girl was yelling at the river, which was flowing rather swiftly with the heavy rain and winds. In the waters was a lumpy shape that could only be a dog.

Nice try, gods! He had learned his lesson well from the last time.

Rescuing that other dog had brought him nothing but needless trouble. What exactly had it done? He pondered those thoughts as his bike and bought items were left on the ground. Why, it ruined his already meager chances of a fresh start to his highschool social life, put him behind on the already increased coursework expected compared to middle school, and caused his family unneeded stress.

It was rather obvious, Hachiman thought as he jogged down towards the riverbank, rushing and even shoving past the group of girls. Why bother putting yourself in harm's way for some animal you've never met? Reflex? The foolish desire to be a hero? Well, he would not make the same mistake twice.

It was only as the chill of the water shocked him from his internal monologue that he realized what had happened. While he had pondered the situation in his mind, his body had simply moved.

Looks like he would be a little bit late after all, sorry Komachi.


Author's Note: In all honesty, I wasn't sure how I was going to begin this fic. I wanted to jump straight into the meeting, but I felt like doing a bit of buildup would help set the scene way better. Initially, Shirogane was only going to be involved a few chapters later, but as I wrote the trip to the convenience store, I couldn't refuse to use the golden opportunity to set up the character ahead of time. Shirogane's fate was a major divergence point in this AU, it will come into play later, so I am not going to spoil too much about it.

That conversation between them went more amusingly then planned. Shirogane basically rolled a Nat 1 in Conversation while Hachiman rolled like a 3, so Shirogane's paranoia of being recognized and thus recognizing Hachiman caused him to basically shoot himself in the foot and out himself as a highschooler working. While it is a minor issue to Hikigaya (unlike Kawasaki, there is nothing overtly prompting investigation into Shirogane since he is still having good grades and attendance), it doesn't mean that Shirogane isn't going to be panicking since someone knows about his job (one of them, at least).

I thought it would be thematically appropriate that much like canon SNAFU, all the drama starts because of instinctively leaping to save a dog. Because deep down, beneath the bluster, Hikigaya Hachiman is a big softie.