How long has it been since the rotten Hikigaya-kun has left his hometown called Chiba? 3 weeks now. They say that it takes 12-13 weeks to train the recruits.
And counting that the distance between both of us is thousands of miles. The letters should be coming sooner or later.
After graduating from Soubu High School, I decided to take a week rest from everything that involved school. I spent some time in my apartment, had some time with Yuigahama-san. And having a week rest of not having to think about school gives you unlimited freedom.
Some students say, 'School is prison'.
I don't see a prison providing free education. I don't see a prison providing only 1 certain type of food that looks like sludge. And I don't know any type of prison that would let you go home and sleep in your own room.
The only thing that is in common with prison and school, is the socializing.
So don't compare school to prison ever again.
After having a week rest, I attended Chiba University. I decided I was going to become a lawyer and take law school classes. I need a Juris Doctor if I want to become one. Coincidentally, they were in the subjects as soon as I applied for the university. My parents must've done that for me.
I know I have repeated this but my mother wants me to attend to a university close or inside Chiba. In the future, I will have to force several professional parties.
Nee-san is still doing that but I'm going to replace her so that she can also work as a lawyer.
Law school is challenging... but I will overcome this trial that is put upon me.
Ding!
Someone had rung the doorbell to my apartment.
Most likely family or Yuigahama-san.
I casually walk towards the front door, unlocking it and then open it.
"Mail for Yukinoshita Yukino."
Someone had given me something? I don't remember anything about buying or sending letters. But I do recall asking someone 3 weeks ago to send letters.
"Thank you."
I take the letters from the mailman's hands, closing the door and locking it.
For a moment, I felt extremely excited to read the letters that Hikigaya-kun has written. Should I make a bet if he would exaggerate how hard his physical training is? Or maybe he possibly misses one of us?
I had to calm my girly side and open the mail.
It was only 1 page of letter which I was pretty disappointed, but even then, I couldn't help but show a small smile knowing he took the time to write this.
First week of training... Exhausting.
Also, how were you able to write your address and put the picture inside my pocket without me noticing? Are you a ninja? Has your self defense karate lessons also been teaching you how to be a ninja? I wouldn't be surprised, just don't use it on me again.
That will be a secret only kept to my brain.
Even though I took 1 month to practice waking up early, I still get extremely tired. Maybe it's because of the environment that I am living in. At home, I was fairly comfortable. But in boot camp, a lot of things are happening. It also turns out I may have not needed to work out my body for a whole month. Because in the end, we will all have similar stats. Also, I am mortally scared of my drill sergeants. Apparent it is called 'shark attacks", you do something wrong, you are ambushed by 3-4 of them and you have to do PT.
I heard they wake up at 5:30 am in the morning. Sounds pretty early but I can never counter that type of argument.
The only thing that hit me harder than waking up early and the physical training... I got my head shaved. I am bald. Please do not imagine a bald version of me. I'll grow my old hair out once I finish this boot camp.
Hikibaldy-kun seemed to have a really bad time.
My will to not laugh was extremely weak. My mouth kept smiling and not smiling, but turned to laughter eventually. And now my brain was imagining a bald Hikigaya-kun. Could you imagine seeing a bald man with eyes like his in the middle of the night? I fear not even my karate self defense lessons may be able to stop those eyes.
Some good news for once. I can receive mail from anyone. Which means you can also send letters to me. My drill sergeants give mail to each of the recruits everyday. I don't really expect you to send any letters considering how hard university must be.
My hands had already grabbed a piece of paper and writing utensil.
[ A Few Weeks Later ]
6 weeks of training at Parris Island, South Carolina. If there is anything that I absolutely love, it's the firearm training. No matter what specialist you are, you are always a rifleman.
My eyes that was presumably always rotten and related to fishes, had come in handy for once.
The rifle I specifically chose was an M4A1.
"With all those accurate shots, Hikigaya, you should become a marine corps sniper! Now keep firing and don't miss a damn shot!"
My drill sergeant shouts at me. You have to get a certain amount of points unless you want to do more PT.
The moment I joined boot camp, I was kind of scared of my drill sergeants.
"That's enough shooting at standing targets! Put your firearms in the armory and come back in T-minus 5 minutes! Go! Go!"
Have I also forgotten to tell you that the 2nd best part was fighting with hand-to-hand combat and bayonet practice? I had some problems with some drill sergeants but I had to 'man up'.
I'm unfamiliar with the American's use of words but I think it means to just take it all in and you can't do anything about it. So while training with hand-to-hand combat, I can release some pent up anger.
...
It was beginning to get dark and we were at our beds. But we had an hour of free time.
"Alright, listen up! We got some mails and letters for you all today. Hikigaya."
My drill sergeant hands me a letter.
It was from Yukinoshita. She seemed to have written a letter to me. I felt a bit nostalgia from remembering her name. I don't know why. Even though it's only been 6 weeks since I left Chiba.
Maybe nostalgia is my biggest weakness? Probably not.
I hopped into my bed and read the letter.
Dear Hikigaya-kun,
It has come to my knowledge that I cannot refrain myself from imagining a bald version of you. You could probably become a mascot of a Halloween movie if you had the opportunity. Please write more than a page so I can hear more humiliating stuff about your time there.
Maybe I shouldn't have wrote that down. But I did say I would tell her my time in boot camp so I paid the price.
I took a week off of school related things. Now I'm going to law school to become a lawyer just like Nee-san. Also, I am not going to tell you my secret on how I wrote my address as fast as possible. Secrets are meant to be secrets. Yuigahama-san doesn't know about this but she seems to have been doing pretty well. We hang out during weekends and see each other at university sometimes. But she has taken acting classes which is obviously an entirely different subject.
Our lunch periods are different so we use the weekends to make up for it. We brought about you a couple of times. I also texted her about your antique hairstyle. She is bewildered and also cannot get rid of the memory of a bald Hikigaya-kun. She wants you to grow it back as soon as possible.
I will grow it back as soon as I become a marine.
That being said, I also have been attending well planned parties that my mother has shown up to. I am practically Nee-san's replacement until...
Mother has been introducing me to some men with bags of money precisely. I have no interest in them, as they only have interest with my reputation. They won't even lay a finger on me, that is how much my reputation hold.
It was weird of her to bring that up. Why would she want me to know that she is rejecting lots of men? I won't even be surprised if she refuses to marry handsome celebrities. She's an Ice Queen alright.
This is all I have for the 3 weeks you have been gone. Goodbye.
-Sincerely, Yukinoshita Yukino
So the letter was written 3 weeks ago, and so was mine 5-6 weeks ago. But then again, we are both thousands of miles away from each other. Either the letters travel by boat or flight, it doesn't matter, it is still far.
I still have 45 minutes of free time so I grabbed a piece of paper from the supply room and a pencil.
[ 3 weeks later ]
A long night of studying for my exams. The challenge I may possibly overcome is increasing bit by bit. But I need to make my mother proud and pass it.
Ding!
It was too late for Yuigahama-san to show up to my apartment. My brain suddenly reminds myself about the duration of the letters being sent.
Each 3 weeks. I receive letter from Hikigaya-kun, and he receives letters from me.
This time there was no mailman, the letter was put in my mailbox instead. Someone must've been working the night shift or something like that.
Pushing my study time away, I opened the mail and saw a page of paragraphs. Sadly, it was only 1 page yet again.
Secrets are meant to be secrets yet you found out about mine. Whatever, it's not like it really was going to be a secret forever. I guess I shouldn't have told you that I was going to write everything about my experience here.
There is only a page of letter because most of the stuff I am doing is meant to be a secret. It's classified. If I write it down, I'll be discharged dishonorably.
I guess he had a very great excuse for it. Which means I cannot force him into writing more than a page of his life.
But what I can tell you is that I am learning how to shoot an assault rifle. We also learned hand-to-hand combat. It's practically martial arts. You might wanna watch out now. I may counter your self defense lessons someday.
As if he would even dare lay a finger on me. Even if he overpowers me, there are ways to beat him that doesn't involve me having to do all the work. But I don't abuse my powers.
Another thing. Guns... They are extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands. It isn't the gun that should be banned, it's the people who own them. But let's not get political here. I'm going to be a lawyer, not a politician. My dad plans on becoming a politician someday and I hope he succeeds.
The most excruciating part yet is the gas chamber,
The what?
A gas chamber?
You may be surprised by it but we were told to go in the gas chamber filled with tear gas. It's not fully lethal but it can make you feel extreme pain everywhere. We had to take our gas masks off and endure 5 minutes of it.
I came out of the gas chamber and I never felt so relieved to be able to breathe in air. My nose was practically running lots of mucus out of my nostrils.
I might need to vomit in the bathroom, he did not need to tell me that. Maybe it was an ambush attack to harm me. It did hurt but I successfully recovered almost instantly. Because now I can use his weapon against him.
Anyway, that is all I am able to write. I have only an hour of free time daily and I used this specific day precisely to write this letter to you. So goodbye for now, I am extremely tired and going to wake up at 5:30 am in the morning again.
Was he trying to make me feel special that he took his time off to write his letter to me? He should be glad that I am writing letters to him.
But then again, I asked him to.
Oh no. I used my own weapon against myself. Let's not make him find out about this or else it's going to be extremely embarrassing.
I shook my head a few times to get rid of the thought. Pushing my study time again, I grabbed a piece of paper and my writing utensil once more.
[ 3 weeks later ]
"Hikigaya, a letter to you."
She must've wrote a letter again.
9 weeks, only 3 weeks to go.
Dear Hikigaya-kun,
Before you start reading this, you might need to reconsider how much information you are revealing. Now my brain is scarred with an image of you having mucus all over your nose and mouth. I think that should be 'classified information' that you shouldn't reveal to me.
Looks like she used my own weapon against me.
Though I am disappointed on the contents of your letters, I understand respectfully that things are meant to be kept secrets.
And you also happen to be challenging me to a fight perhaps? Even if you best me in hand-to-hand combat, there are others way I can get rid of you. Like hiring a bunch of guys to beat you into a pulp. But I won't do that. Because I already know you won't dare lay a finger on me.
I have no thoughts about your gun training, just don't hurt yourself.
I have already taken that step a lot more serious than you can assume. But where in the world will Yukinoshita find those guys? Oh yeah, that is correct. Her mother is scary.
And the gas chamber you spoke of. Please don't leave anymore disgusting information.
On the other hand, school has been challenging recently. But I've overcome harder tests in the past. Do you also happen to be taking education over there?
Definitely.
Marine Corps isn't just learning how to shoot a gun, fight, or train your body. We have classes that I will not reveal to anyone about.
Anyway, that is all I have left to write. Yuigahama-san misses you a lot. And so do I. But I get that you're really focused right now. I just want to let you know that when you come back to Chiba, expect many surprising things to occur.
If people change, then so be it.
Change is the law of life.
Goodnight, Hikigaya-kun. It was fun reading your letter.
-Sincerely, Yukinoshita Yukino.
She must've wrote this letter while studying or maybe during night time.
But how, it is my time to write.
[ 3 weeks later ]
With no hesitation, I sat on my couch and opened the mail and see once again, a page of letter written by Hikigaya-kun.
I will remember not to tell you any 'disgusting' information about my time here. You did say you wanted my to send letters, and I sent them.
Perhaps his brain was evolving. No, it was adapting to the average human brain. He used my own weapon against me now.
Dear, Yukinoshita
There is nothing I need to write about. By the time you are reading this, I probably have become a marine.
My rank is currently a Private.
Private Hikigaya, sounds cool.
$20,000+ a year which isn't so bad.
In 6 months, I'll be promoted to PFC which means Private First Class.
But in order to earn that promotion, I have to do a couple of tours. Basically, I'm going to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq or many other different countries that are at war with each other. Which means I may get myself killed. But hey, at least I died trying. Don't be sad about it. Just accept it.
This was the part where I knew I was eventually going to see. The letters have stopped now. Hikigaya-kun is practically a US Marine.
This is my last letter to you. Don't send any mail to me because it will not reach to me, it will be put in the recycle bin.
This is my final goodbye because after 12 weeks, I'm gonna be at a different country. And if something bad happens to me, I just want to let you know that the letters you have wrote for me has helped me a lot. I rarely talk to the other recruits, and it helps that I am talking to someone I know prior.
As I said, this will be my last letter to you so I hope you graduate as a lawyer or something like that. Keep going after your dream and don't give up. My drill sergeants have told me to never give up and it helped me a lot, so I hope it helps you a lot.
That is all I have to say.
Goodbye, I hope you have a wonderful time in Chiba.
-Sincerely, Hikigaya Hachiman
To think his last letter would be so formal. It really was his last letter.
I noticed that the letter I was holding was wet. Tiny circles that were making the letter wet. And now my cheeks were wet.
Oh.. I was crying.
Indeed I was.
Why was I crying? Maybe because it may possibly be his last letter and will only be the last communication we have. I'm scared... I am sacred that he may get killed. And I won't even notice it until Komachi-san tells me. And even Komachi-san or her parents won't know about it for a while.
It could be a few years before they even tell us that Hikigaya-kun has been dead for years and they now just found out about it.
Without noticing, my hands were on something entirely different. It was yet again a piece of paper and a writing utensil.
I wrote something without even noticing.
Please don't die...
I quickly erased it, the force I used accidentally broke the eraser off, I grew frustrated and crumbled the paper up and threw it at the recycle bin.
Just like Hikigaya-kun said, I just have to accept it. It can't be undone.
But as I begin to sleep during that night, my mind still was on the topic.
I couldn't sleep at all.
Dammit, just go to sleep.
He is unable to contact me now and I am unable to contact him. We have gone our separate ways. He has already accepted his future and I am pursuing mine.
As I kept repeating myself that, I slowly stopped.
I have fallen asleep.