Chương 36: As Expected, Hikigaya Hachiman Remains Himself

"I am sorry! I will make sure the same thing will never happen in the future!"

That word came out of the mouth of a girl named Yuigahama Yui. She is showing sincerity in her word; one can even feel the extreme sorry she is exuding from her entire being. However, sorry doesn't accomplish anything.

People say sorry whenever they make mistake—that is the norm. One indeed can decide whether to accept the apology or not. However, it doesn't really matter; mistake remains a mistake in the end.

"Sorry," a word describing one's regret over something one has done—that's all! It's said so often, it has lost its meaning. It is said merely to comfort the mind of the speaker: they are sorry, so they deserve to be forgiven.

It gives no benefit to the person who is on the receiving end. Therefore, after "Sorry," must come the responsibility. This is the only way to comfort the person who has been wronged. This is why, "I promise, I will not *insert thing one will never repeat*" is born.

In Hachiman's case however, there is actually nothing Yui has to take responsibility of; Hachiman is not injured physically or mentally. Therefore, Hachiman has no option but to accept it.

"Alright, stop bowing and take your bitch." Hachiman presents Sablé to Yui. Yui raises her head, then quickly protests, "Hey, Sablé is a male!"

Hachiman frowns, before flipping Sablé over. "Oh, yeah. It's a male." Then, he flips Sablé back, and presents Sablé to Yui again. "Now, why don't you take your dog?"

Yui briefly looks at Hachiman weirdly, before taking Sablé in her hand.

Yukino turns to Hachiman. "Although I am not the one driving, I will apologize to you in my driver's behalf, Hikigaya-kun."

Hachiman nonchalantly replies, "Yeah, sure. We're good." Then, he turns around.

"Wait!" Yukino takes ahold of Hachiman's wrist. "Are you really okay?" She is looking at Hachiman in worry.

Hachiman squints his eyes. 'This bitch must be thinking her trick still works on me. Ku-ku-ku, it does though. But, I'm not stupid! You're still being punished, so you have no privilege to be treated like a family.'

With that thought in mind, he replies, "I am hurt, when I say I am; I am not, when I say I am not. It's as simple as that." He pulls his wrist off Yukino's hold, then walks to his beloved Saber-chan.

After getting on Saber-chan, his back quickly disappears from the two girls' view. Yukino shakes her head in disappointment, and smiles bitterly.

Yui looks nervously at Yukino from the side. "A—Ano..." At that, Yukino turns to Yui. "I am Yuigahama Yui. What is yours?" Yui extends her hand.

Yukino stares at Yui's extended hand and Yui alternatingly, before smiling professionally. "I am pretty sure we will know each other in the near future. Let's wait until that time comes." Then, she walks to her limousine, and gets into it.

Yui, the poor girl who is left hanging, blinks her eyes, before retracting her extended hand. "Wow... If those two didn't coincidentally meet each other, I would be absolute they were siblings." Yui frowns, before shouting, "Both are equally eccentric!"

Then, Yuigahama Yui too leaves the scene. All of this interaction happened in front of the people who have witnessed Hachiman's acrobatic stunt; they don't understand what actually is happening.

But as always, life goes on.

...

Hachiman has just arrived at Sobu High. He is now parking his bike at the school's parking ground.

Although he still attracted people's attention when they saw him riding a bike to school, they weren't that many. Not many people passed through the back gate, after all.

After Saber-chan has been successfully parked, Hachiman runs his hand to his hair to tidy up the mess the helmet has caused to it. Then, he heads to the field to look at his class assignment that is stick on the bulletin board.

Upon arriving there, he can see many students crowding in front of the bulletin board. He doesn't know what takes them so long to find where their class is, but he is pretty they are stupid.

In this situation, people with tall stature holds an extreme advantage. As long as they don't forget they have eyes, they can just look at the bulletin board slightly away from the crowd without joining them.

Hachiman does just that.

"Hm... I'm glad I didn't take the 'International' class. I don't want to be in the same class as her." He is referring to the class where Yukino is in, 1J. "But of all the classes, it has to be 1F? Fate really brings me here, huh?" Hachiman faintly smirks.

Suddenly, he feels a tug on his sleeve. Immediately turning his head to his left, he is met with a boy—a feminine boy. He has short, light silver hair; large, sparkling blue eyes; and light skin tone. He is looking adorable in Sobu High's uniform.

His eyes are planted on Hachiman; his long eyelashes flutters everytime he blinks his eyes. Seeing that he has gotten Hachiman's attention, the feminine boy opens his mouth.

"A—Ano. Do you still remember me?"

"Of course, I still remember you. Saika, right?"

Totsuka Saika's eyes lit up. "Yes, I am!" He laughs femininely. "I'm glad you still remember me."

Hachiman smiles professionally. 'How can I forget you? Your cuteness is so lethal, you almost turn me gay!' he thought inside.

His first encounter with Saika was in the entrance examination day. His seat was right beside Saika at that time. Due to whatever reason, his eraser fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up, but Saika also did the same.

In the end, their hand ended up touching each other; a scene straight out of "Boys Meet Boys" happened. That way, they knew of each other.

"Ah, can I ask you a favor?" Saika asked.

"I already have a girlfriend."

At that answer, Saika looks weirdly at Hachiman.

Hachiman cursed inwardly. 'What the FUCK are you talking about, Me?! He's a dude!'

Of course, he is someone who has an extreme control over his facial expression. Therefore, he can easily play it cool.

Hachiman laughs, and waves his hand mildly. "I was just joking. What is the favor?"

"Oh, that! I want you to look for my name and see where the class I am in. It's too crowded here, I can't pass through." Putting his hand on his chest, he cutely continues, "Can you do that?"

'Of course, I can. But, stop luring me to the dark side!' Hachiman cursed in his mind. "There is no need to look at your class assignment. We are in the same class, Saika." Hachiman extends his hand forward. "Let's be a good friend."

Saika eagerly takes his hand, before shaking it. "Yes! Let's be a good friend!"

'His hand is so soft, dammit!' He thought, before letting go of Saika's hand.

Ignoring the contradiction happening between his mind and his heart, Hachiman smiles professionally, yet again.

Then, he feels a tug on his right sleeve. Turning to his right, he is met with a beautiful girl—an actual girl this time. She has waist length black hair, blue eyes, slightly rounded face, white unblemished skin, and small lips.

She is smiling sweetly at Hachiman; her entire existence is exuding confidence and charming femininity.

"Good morning, Hachiman-kun."

"Good morning, Saki. I didn't know you decided to attend Sobu High."

The beautiful girl, the "reborn" Yoshida Saki, laughs faintly. "I purposely didn't tell you, so I can surprise you. But, I think I failed." She sighs.

"Nope. I am surprised." Hachiman smiles slightly.

He is telling the truth. He can't recall an Oregairu character named Yoshida Saki, after all; her existence alone is already a surprise for him.

"What is your class, Hachiman-kun?"

"I got 1F," Hachiman points his thumb to his side, "Saika is too."

"Good morning!" Saika bows at Saki.

"Oh my, what a coincidence! Me too!" Saki extends her hand at Saika. "I am Yoshida Saki. Nice to meet you, Saika-san."

Saika grabs Saki's hand. "I am Totsuka Saika. Nice to meet you too!"

That way, the three became a friend. Walking to their class together, they talk about some trivial things in the way.

"You have finally decided to take off your glasses, Saki."

"Ah, yes. You didn't wear your glasses too, Hachiman-kun."

"My eyes are better now." Hachiman shrugs.

He is referring to his now considerably normal eyes. They are no longer dead, but turned sharp instead. Although they are still scary to look at, they have their own irresistible charm.

Upon reaching to the classroom, they head to their assigned seat, and put their bag on their desk. Then, they immediately head to the auditorium; the opening ceremony is about to start.

The auditorium is already full of people; teachers and students alike are already there. Hachiman can see Shizuka amongst the teacher, and they nod at each other when their eyes met. After that, along with Saki and Saika, he takes a seat.

Soon, the opening ceremony starts. The headmaster walks to the stage, and gives a brief speech on how great Sobu High is. When he is done with his speech, the moderator calls the president of the student council to also give a speech.

"Greet our Student Council's president, Shiromeguri Meguri!"

The girl named Shiromeguri Meguri walks to the stage, and gives her speech. The girl is soft-spoken, and her voice is strangely pleasing to hear. It is to the point where Hachiman gives her his attention, which he rarely gives to people.

When Meguri finished her speech, the moderator calls the next and the last person to give a speech.

"The next will be from our First Year's Representative, Hikigaya Hachiman."

Hachiman stands up from his seat, then walks to the stage. In the way, everyone's eyes are on him; they were curious about the person named Hikigaya Hachiman.

While some boys feel an instinctual dislike towards him, all of the girls feel a natural attraction to him.

Upon getting on the stage, Hachiman looks at the crowd briefly. He can easily spot Yukino amongst the crowd: she really stands out.

"Good morning, everyone. First of all, I will warn you advance I don't like to talk much. Therefore, I am going to deliver what I want to say directly." He paused, then continues, "I am here not because I am the best, but because you are too dumb."

The hall descended in silence. Shizuka's mouth twitched, and pretty much every students feel insulted.

"However, you don't have to feel down. We were all born dumb. Like Abraham Lincoln said: 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people.' But, people are retarded; dumbness is deeply instilled in ourselves."

Seeing that the crowd doesn't get what he means, he continues, "My point is, don't be afraid of being dumb. We all have a portion of dumbness in ourselves. With that being said, that means I have the least amount of dumbness inside me."

The crowd calms down, as they feel "equal" once again. "To close my speech, I will do it by delivering a profound quote from a wise man named Chris Sasaki."

Then, he proceeds to speak in fluent English. |Roses are red, violets are blue. I got five fingers, the middle one is for you.| He bows, then continues in Japanese, "Thank you."

While some of the people contorted their face, most of the crowd clap their hands loudly at Hachiman. They are simply amazed by his fluent English.

That way, his highschool begins.