Hikigaya's Route to Senior High Is Not Normal, As I Expected
"Just believe in yourself. Even if you don't, pretend that you do and, at some point, you will" – Venus Williams
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Hachiman's POV
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Hachiman sighed in relief and a bit of tenseness. He was tired, sweat rolling down his face.
It had been so long since he had last been pushed this much since Aoki had trained him for his first professional martial arts tournament. Sure, he didn't win, but the training Aoki gave him and the willing and improvements Hachiman made, in the eyes of Aoki, was marvelous progress in Hachiman's physical abilities.
Hachiman was just coming back from another physical torture, or sparring session with Manabu. The senior seeming very interested in having Hachiman spar with him.
Since midterm exams had ended, Manabu found now to be the appropriate time to actually get him to spar with them.
And again, sure Hachiman barely could keep up with Manabu, he was improving.
For Hachiman, it reminded him of Aoki, strangely enough. The main difference was that Manabu should have the personality of Aoki after he had lost everything, and because of Hachiman's own failure. It was strange to see the resemblance, yet differences between the two as Hachiman was forced to spar Manabu.
Hachiman checked his balance, seeing that he had around 850,000 private points. It was a lot, and he would continue to get more as time went on.
Some he got from the job, Manabu, Kakeru, and the likes, Hachiman had been able to take care of it all.
Plus, he now had a surplus in private points. Therefore, he had a decent and good stance at the moment. Sure, he majority of the class likely hated and had a negative view on Hachiman, but it was something he didn't care for.
Suzune and Kiyotaka seemed intrigued by him, but they never approached him, likely because they can rarely find him.
And the idiot trio, Hachiman nodded as he realized he did promise to play basketball with Sudou.
Considering this occurred right after Manabu's sparring session, Hachiman was already tired when Sudou had approached him.
Of course, Hachiman was bound by the deal, and so even when he was tired, he agreed, the next day.
Sudou was fine with that.
"Hey Hikigaya, I wanted to thank you again for the help." Sudou smiled. Hachiman didn't think much of it.
In the end, Sudou hadn't been able to get two 75 on any subjects, meaning Hachiman was not needing to be involved in the basketball team.
However, Sudou had gotten a relatively higher than usual average for someone like Sudou, and thus he agreed to play basketball with the athlete.
"No problem, I will play basketball with you tomorrow and the deal will be complete." Hachiman reassured Sudou who nodded.
"Yeah, a shame, but I will take what I can get." Sudou smiled. "Thanks again!" Sudou responded before he began to run out.
Hachiman just looked at him running off before he shrugged. He though very little about it.
Hachiman was completely tired from his sparring sessions from Manabu, who would always give him advice to improve his skills and current prowess.
"Your shoulders are too clenched. While it is admirable when blocking, when striking, keeping your shoulders relaxed will actually benefit you even if you get hit there." Manabu had explained to Hachiman who nodded.
Hachiman was sweating as he had to keep up with Manabu's unrelenting sparring for the time.
Of course, once that was done, Hachiman immediately went on one of the sofa balls you could sit on in the library.
But that was after Nao had tightly hugged him, before commenting on how sweaty he was.
Once that was finished, Hachiman was able to lay down and relax.
Even when Shiina joined Hachiman, he was able to be fine.
Although seeing Shiina nervously try to hug Hachiman was a bit weird. Especially when she began to be more flustered upon realizing Hachiman was sweaty.
"O-Oh… Sorry Hikigaya, I was unaware you were sweating." Shiina mumbled clearly a bit surprised and flustered.
"Don't worry about it, seems a lot of people didn't…" Hachiman sighed as he took a breathe. Even despite the awkward nature, Shiina brought out the book, brought her ball chair next to Hachiman's, and they began to spent most of the day reading.
When it was time for a lunch break, Shiina and Hachiman had gone to get food.
"So, how were the midterms for you?" Shiina asked Hachiman.
Hachiman responded, "They were good. I personally got a good mark, but we may have one person who failed their midterms."
Shiina seemed a bit surprised, "Oh… Are they getting expelled?" Shiina asked curiously.
Hachiman shrugged, "Something is happening, so we will see. Whatever our teacher does will determine the route our class takes."
Shiina seemed a bit confused by what Hachiman was implying, however she gave him a small smile. "Alright, I trust that Hikigaya will be fine, right?"
Hachiman nodded. "Of course I will be. Don't worry for me." Hachiman reassured Shiina as the two gulfed down their lunch.
In addition to having their meal and spending most the day, Shiina and Hachiman were undoubtedly becoming closer as friends, and even Hachiman was beginning to realize that.
"So, how are you and Wang doing?" Hachiman asked Shiina. He didn't really see the two communicating much after their little 'fight.'
Shiina nodded. "She and I are fine. We've spoken a bit afterwards, however the intensity and fall from the midterms made us stop speaking for a bit. However, I can message her tomorrow once she has relieved herself of the midterm stress."
That made sense for Hachiman as he nodded in acknowledgement. There wasn't really much to discuss on that end. If Shiina and Mei-Yu were speaking when even Hachiman didn't realize it, then that was completely fine.
After all, Shiina deserved better friends than him.
And so as Hachiman listened to Shiina speak, he was glad to see her be more open and find friends.
Even some members of her class was getting somewhat closer to her. Hachiman was glad.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. You're a cute girl, and I'm sure anyone would want to befriend someone like you." Hachiman casually stated, unaware of what he had just said and seeing Shiina's face turn red and that.
Shiina was very surprised that Hachiman had said that, but seeing how Hachiman seemed deep in thought, she assumed that he simply had spoken something without putting much thought into it.
For the meantime, Hachiman and Shiina enjoyed their Saturday.
When it came for Sunday, Hachiman was immediately called by Sudou, informing him to not forget about the basketball practice he was supposed to have with Sudou. Hachiman silently groaned realizing his body was likely going to get used up and exhausted once again.
Waking up, he knew that he would have another tiring session with Sudou.
The session remained relatively fine for Hachiman. He was unsure if that was because Manabu was actually increasing his stamina further with how he was sparring him, or if Hachiman was just naturally sturdy, what remained was that Hachiman was surprisingly good.
In the first little round, Sudou was clearly gauging what Hachiman was capable of. That was bad for him in the grand scheme of things since Hachiman would likely be out skilled by Sudou at this rate.
Therefore, he would have to rely on pure maneuvers that would surprise or make Sudou falter.
It was risky, but Hachiman knew he had to do such a thing.
Therefore, leaning and seeing Sudou throwing the ball to him, he then pushed the ball back, as Hachiman got low and spread his arms out to try and block.
Immediately, Sudou went for a curve to the left. This confused Hachiman as he was leaned more to his right side. Sudou's left was covered by Hachiman's right before Hachiman realized Sudou would feint and shift right if needed.
That's what he did, and before Sudou could try and twirl to free himself and get an easy serve, Hachiman had smacked the ball away from Sudou.
Sudou's shocked allowed Hachiman to retrieve the ball, as he was now the one on the offensive.
Clearly, Sudou was surprised before he smirked. "Well I'll be damned, seems you got a decent amount of skills for this. You'll try to surprise me? Well we'll see how well that works." Sudou smirked clearly content and happy to see Hachiman was going to put in the effort to challenge Sudou.
The round went as well as Hachiman felt. Sure, he performed a bit better than he thought, relatively well, Hachiman ultimately lose against Sudou.
The first couple of rounds he was able to do decent and stand up, barely keeping it a tie, but by the final quarter, Sudou clearly had placed in more effort as he was able to score more than Hachiman.
In the end, Hachiman lost against Sudou by around eight points. Considering they played for two hours nonstop, Sudou had a lot to commend on Hachiman.
"Your stamina was really impressive." Sudou commented, patting Hachiman on the back. "Keep working out and you could be very good in athletic stuff." Sudou praised Hachiman before he ran off.
Hachiman nodded. "Thank you." He gave Sudou a simple thank you but Sudou seemed to have already ran off.
Hachiman watched as Sudou ran off. He really didn't care for the kinds of individuals like Sudou. He was useful for what he was, and Hachiman thought it was best that he didn't get close to anyone. It was a simple matter of him wanting to remain alone.
After all, humans were inherently selfish. Hachiman too.
He was a selfish individual, and he would admit that. He was selfish to use Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi's status as idiots to ultimately embarrass Satsuki, Maya, and Kei all for their flaws and threatening of Hachiman.
He was selfish to use Chie's own issues to leverage them against Sae, who herself was effectively blackmailed.
He was selfish to remain by himself and want to only benefit himself for it all.
Of course, Hachiman had his other reasons. To himself, he was not worth worrying about, and thus he didn't want others to be burdened with worrying about him.
As Hachiman thought about everything, it was something that he was reflecting on throughout the remaining time of the weekend.
Of course, he was still debating everything. Alas, Hachiman finally was able to get a break.
The weekend was incredibly tiring, but the next day, Monday would be very hectic.
Mainly because Hachiman was curious to see if Kei would be expelled by Sae or not.
As Hachiman made his way to the dorm, it appeared that, to Hachiman's observation, Kei was indeed still in the classroom.
This seemed to surprise many of the students in class, as not anyone else seemed to have spoken to Kei.
Whether the girl was locked up in her room, or Sae had given her a condition of not speaking to anyone until Monday, it seemed that now people were seeing Kei for the first time.
It wasn't just literally everyone in the class surprised by the appearance of Kei Karuizawa. Perhaps Hachiman was missing something.
When the morning came, Hachiman waited carefully for Sae to join, to see what had happened.
For the time, Hachiman shrugged it off. He focused on what he did, and took out a book and began to read the contents. He really didn't have any interest in what or why Kei was still here. He only did what he did, to command respect for himself.
The last thing he needed was someone profiting off him because of his inactions. He couldn't tolerate such actions. Therefore, to circumvent that, he had to act and show what he was capable of.
He had to show the Idiot Trio he was capable, so they don't look down or underestimate him. He had to show those girls that he could mess with them in many ways they couldn't expect.
He even had to shown Sae she couldn't use him just for her own benefit.
Hachiman had proved to Sae that he was not going to take her ploys. Considering the decision and ultimatum he had given Sae, he was glad to see that Sae was somewhat rethinking everything since she had clearly been put in her place by Hachiman.
And sure enough, Hachiman did see Sae enter the class. She looked a bit different at the class, before she seemed to maintain the façade she had.
"Good morning class, I see that everyone is here, so I will say this now. Congratulations on your performance in the midterm exams, and I hope to see remarkable improvements from everyone."
"Um… Chabashira?" Yousuke started, turning to Kei who clearly looked a bit embarrassed and awkward. "Didn't you say that Karuizawa would be expelled last Friday? How is she still here?"
Sae turned to Yousuke for a moment before he sighed. "The school board has ruled over and checked Karuizawa's test results, and found them inappropriate with the school's rules and current midterm standings. Therefore, Karuizawa was gifted the necessary point needed to pass. Therefore, she won't be expelled."
The class clearly looked surprised but then content, but considering that they were in class right now, they couldn't erupt into sheer excitement due to the class being in progress.
But Hachiman knew very well that Sae had submitted to his demands, and had offered Kei some form of opportunity.
Likewise, Hachiman watched on.
He didn't know if Sae had spoken to Kei behind the scenes, but it was clear to Hachiman that some form of deal was struck between them.
Likewise, Hachiman was hearing Kiyotaka and Suzune speak.
"Seems that we didn't need to pay 50,000 private points each for her to gain a point…" Kiyotaka mumbled.
"Indeed, but this begs the question. What did Chabashira do to warrant Karuizawa to remain in the school?" Suzune asked.
Hachiman didn't think much of it before he realized that the two were looking at him. Hachiman could tell that they always found him somewhat interesting, but now was not an appropriate time for Hachiman to feel this.
He didn't want to be used or to associate with others.
Therefore, he quickly placed on earbuds and listened to music while reading his book.
Kiyotaka and Suzune both looked at Hachiman before they sighed. "Guess he doesn't want to answer us."
"But even then, we have enough information." Kiyotaka explained. Suzune turned to him confused.
"How so?" Suzune asked confused and curious.
"He basically spoke on the fact that Chabashira had acted unfair compared to the rest of the teacher. He threatened to expose Chabashira's hatred of us to the rest of the class if she didn't do anything about Karuizawa's expulsion." Kiyotaka answered Suzune's question.
"But even then, why did Hikigaya do this for Karuizawa. Didn't the two alongside her other friends have animosity between Hikigaya?"
Kiyotaka hummed. Even he didn't have the answer for that. The only reason Kiyotaka could think that Hachiman would do such a thing was for a favour.
Hachiman saw some use for Kei, and would likely use her as a form of favour, or a sign of wanting her to be grateful for him.
Perhaps it was just to get on the good graces of the class? Kiyotaka had plenty of potential reasons why Hachiman did what he did.
Unfortunately, Hachiman clearly was a quiet person who didn't hang out much with anyone. Sure, he helped teach the Idiot Trio, giving them a fine median score compared to the average expected, but besides that Hachiman didn't really hang out with anyone else.
Actually, that was somewhat not true.
There was Mei-Yu Wang. Kiyotaka had seen her sometimes approaching Hachiman, and to their mild surprise, Hachiman would respond and speak to Mei-Yu.
It was strange seeing Hachiman speak to someone, but he has shown he was capable to speak when needed. May 1st provided a really good example.
Hachiman was someone who would speak his mind when required. He showed very little fear when it came to criticism, and Kiyotaka could tell he was smart when needed.
All the while, Kiyotaka eventually realized that Hachiman was also speaking to someone from another class.
He didn't know the name of the girl but it seemed that they sometimes shared books a lot. However, that was all Kiyotaka could get at because he didn't want to stalk them.
Furthermore, Suzune had expressed her interest, especially since Sae had informed the two that Hachiman was a special individual that they had in the class.
Regardless, considering the shock Sae had with Hachiman's actions, they both knew that perhaps Sae wouldn't want to speak about the fish eyed student for a bit.
And so, once the classes were done, Suzune, now having any social understanding of now grilling people when they are not in a good mood, ended up approaching Sae.
"Excuse me, Chabashira, how come you gave us back our 50,000 private points, and allowed Karuizawa to remain in the school?" Suzune asked.
But Sae herself remained hesitant and annoyed. She seemed like she didn't want to speak.
Kiyotaka saw this and internally winced knowing the teacher didn't want to speak on it.
"It doesn't matter. The issue has been resolved. Karuizawa will remain in the class and everything will go by as usual." Sae told Suzune with a clearly strained normal voice.
Suzune didn't seem to understand the message, "But Chabashira, surely something must have happened?"
"Are you seriously this stupid when it comes to the feelings of others?" Kiyotaka ridiculed Suzune for a clear flaw she was showing.
And Sae could see this as well.
"Geez, no wonder you're in the class of defects. Your ability to piss me off with your lack of knowledge for the feelings of others can easily put you in situations where it could limit your success." Sae responded and retorted to Suzune. "If you really want some form of advice, knowing when people are not in the right state of mind to receive criticism from others is an important skill you need to learn."
With that, Sae had abruptly picked up her material and bag before walking away from class, leaving a confused Suzune and a thinking Kiyotaka.
All the while this occurred, Kiyotaka felt that whatever Hachiman had done had seriously messed Sae up mentally and emotionally.
…
Well, there you go. End of Chapter 32 and the end of Volume 1. We'll be going into Volume 2 soon, I'll see what plan I can prop and think about. However, I have some plans ready and the likes, and I cannot wait to put them into fruition.
If anyone is confused about the whole Sae and Hachiman situation, I can explain. Simply, Hachiman played dirty by using everything to blackmail Sae including Chie's alcohol problem. Sae may not care, but having other people being thrown or hurt because of a situation you caused clearly got to Sae. Because of this, Suzune and Kiyotaka didn't have to pay 50,000 private points each, and Kei was not expelled. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!
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