It was an unpleasant morning, the skies were perfectly clear and the occasional chilly winds rattled the windows, the air inside the room was warm, inviting you to nod off. It really was an unpleasant morning.
It was Monday after a one week break because of the storm. Mondays always tend to get me down, I felt so sluggish that my body refused to move, but I forced it to move and go to the washroom.
Eyes still full of sleep, I stared at the mirror and saw a familiar silhouette stare back
...Yep, same as always
What stared back was a man who was filled with the desire to avoid school and to indulge in indolence forever. The face reflected on the mirror was more handsome than average even humbly speaking, all except the eyes. The eyes you saw on the face were the same you'd see on a rotting fish.
That's me, I am Hachiman Hikigaya.
It wasn't easy but I managed to drag my feet to the direction of the dining room, there I saw my little sister Komachi staring at the teakettle, our parents already had breakfast in an attempt to get ahead of the rush hour so the menu had already been laid. I dragged out a chair with a scrape and right then and there, the water reached the boiling point. Komachi pouring the hot water to the teapot glanced at me "Oh, morning, bro"
"Yeah, good morning." We exchanged greetings when I saw her still staring at me looking impressed "What is it?" It's a little uncomfortable when someone stares at you even if she's your cute little sister "it's nothing, it's just that people really do change for the better"
I tilt my head questioningly, was she making jokes about me this early in the morning? But what did I even do that she could quip about... "What do you mean?"
"You're actually awake! This early in the morning! That's worth 50 Komachi points!" She said with so much vigour you'd think it was something important, but she is right I'm usually not a morning person so I could see what she meant.
I pretended to give an exasperated sigh as I shook my head in an exaggerated manner "This early in the morning and your already at it with your antics... but I guess that's what makes Komachi"
She nodded in a way you'd see the old sages do in the Kung Fu movies in the past "That was nice! And for that you get 100 Komachi points!" She said all of this striking a peace pose, normally this would've been a hard to pull off pose but as she's super cute already she kinda made it seem easy. "Anyway let's eat breakfast and get to school"
"Okay." With her slippers pattering on the floor, she brought over tea. We sat in our seats and quietly said our thanks for the food.
I started to eat when I saw Komachi staring at me, I shot her a look when she finally started to talk. "Hey..."
"Hmm?" I made a short sound to let her know I was listening. "Is something bothering you bro?" She really is sharp, but I decided to play with her before giving an answer.
"Not at all, my existence in the school is like air, not even with the strongest impacts could you ever disturb it and if something happens, air wouldn't be bothered by it and just keep on existing"
I said all in one breath.
Komachi blinked. "Hey did you know?" I gave her an inquisitive look, she's not gonna go all detective on me is she? "know what?" I asked her but I was a little afraid of the answer.
"You are so full of crap Bro, but when you're nervous it spills out."
I couldn't argue with that statement, what I said earlier could only be seen as such. But that analysis of what I say and do -she really is pulling a Sherlock Holmes on me!
Seeing that I have no way out of this, the only thing I could do is tell her everything and hope she wouldn't get mad. Komachi rarely ever gets mad but when she does, she holds on to it. I remember one time where my dad cried to my mom because Komachi wasn't playing along with his games anymore.
"You see it's about school..." she looked like she knew what's to come next, probably thinking that I fought Yui and Yukinoshita, sorry to disappoint but it isn't about that. "...Hiratsuka Sensei told me that we have new transfer students"
I know, it's stupid that I had to force myself to act calm just because of this, no it's even more stupid that something like this has unsettled me this much but I can't help it, she's asking me to do the impossible.
"You're lying again Bro" look Komachi, I know how pathetic of an excuse this sounds like but this really is the truth. "I'm not, you can go and ask Yuigahama to confirm if you like" she eyed me like how a detective would when interrogating a criminal but now that I've brought up another student, she has no choice but to accept.
"Bro, that's pathetic... good thing I'm your sister so I won't abandon you. That's worth 500 Komachi points!" She tried to look disappointed at me but she's back with her point system again so it should be fine, so stop staring at me like I'm dirt please Komachi?
As I tried to tell her that she bolted out of the living room and went towards the door, "I'll be going now Bro! Don't forget to lock the door!" and with that she left me alone.
I started to gulf down my food faster too as the clock told me that I don't have much time before class starts, after eating I went out and rode my bike to school. Even after receiving the harsh look from my little sister, I just couldn't help but feel uneasy about the new transfers.
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I arrived with time to spare so I headed straight towards my room, I saw Yuigahama but she was with her friend group so I just gave her a nod so I wouldn't disturb them. After taking a seat I scanned the place for that one smile that gave me life but it looked like he wasn't here. I felt like the only reason I even came to school was lost but since I was already here I might as well stay.
Where are you Totsuka?
After the bell rung everyone finally started to quiet down and take their seats but it was short lived when 2 students followed along sensei when he entered the room
"Good morning class, these are our new transfer students, introduce yourselves"
She had a petite figure with slender arms and legs. Her skin was a healthy white in contrast to her glossy long hair. She gave off a dignified air, that accompanied with her posture almost reminded me of a noble.
"Good morning, I am Horikita Suzune, I hope to get along with you all"
There were no other words to describe her. She reminds me of Yukinoshita, my senses are telling me that getting involved with her might be troublesome.
While everyone was focused on her, I remembered that there was another transfer student too, I saw him in the corner looking at us with an indifferent face. Not a lot of things touch me on an emotional level but I somewhat felt pity for him. How would he introduce himself to us after that?
When you show the audience the best performance, the other performances after that will inevitably feel lacking, that's why you save the best for last. All of my classmate's eyes were glued to Horikita, so much so that I doubt anyone would pay attention to the other student. I felt bad for him.
A few moments after my speculations, he finally stepped forward to introduce himself, the bar Horikita set with her introduction was high, and the only way people will even remember him is if he surpasses that, which would be unlikely.
He has a slender figure, not too thin but not too bulky either, accompanied with a good looking face with brown hair and brown eyes. If he played his cards right he could give Hayama a serious run for his money. The only problem is that he always has the perfect poker face along with eyes devoid of life. He has a mysterious air around him, reminding me of the characters in the books I've read in my free time.
"Good morning, uhh I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka uhh I play piano and calligraphy, I hope to get along with you all"
That introduction moved all of us into silence, all of our attention was redirected to him. It was so moving that it made me look at him with pity. Maybe it was an attempt to save the new student but our teacher continued and directed them to their seats.
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After classes I surveyed the classroom to look for Yuigahama, but it seems that she along with her friend group were busy trying to talk with Horikita, maybe in an attempt to save herself or to drag Ayanokoji down with her, he was held hostage by her, making her talk with people there too.
Seeing this happen I judged that it would be better if I went to the club ahead of Yuigahama.
I entered the clubroom to see the usual, Yukinoshita was reading her novel waiting for the water to boil in her electric pot, not even sparing me a glance. Seeing that everything is normal I went to my seat to read a book of my own.
20 minutes passed and the clubroom was still quiet, the both of us didn't talk and only continued to be immersed in our novels when someone finally knocked on the door.
I was a bit irritated that someone ruined my immersion but in hindsight, that's what I get for getting immersed in the club.
"Come in"
Once Yukinoshita said that, the door slid open to see Yuigahama and Miss Hiratsuka along with a teacher we never saw before
"Yahallo Yukinon! Yahallo Hikki!"
Yuigahama was as careless as ever but this time Yukinoshita didn't receive it well, it was to be expected because we had a guest from what I assume is another school, showing her this type of reception wasn't proper, Yukinoshita was strict about manners so she shot her a glare.
I'm sure Yuigahama will get an earful later but for now that glare was enough, she really does need to learn the appropriate setting for things like that
Seeing the mood worsen, Miss Hiratsuka took the initiative and introduced us to the newcomer
"She's Miss Chabashira Sae, a teacher from Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School"
After the introduction by Hiratsuka Sensei Yukinoshita immediately followed up with an introduction of her own.
"Good afternoon Miss Chabashira, I'm Yukinoshita Yukino, My friend over here is Yuigahama Yui, and he's Hikigaya Hachiman"
Even while introducing us to a new teacher, she never fails to insult me, in a way it's a skill how she's able to respond like this everytime.
"I see, nice to meet you. I came here because I heard from Miss Hiratsuka that your club accepts requests?"
"Yes that is true, so may we know what request you may have for us students?"
This situation is nothing but trouble, a teacher from another school coming here for a request? I can only think of one thing...
"It has to do with the new transfer students"
I knew it
"Transfer students?"
She won't know because she doesn't like to gossip, good thing Yuigahama here is one of my classmates because I'd rather not be the one to say it, this whole situation smells of crap and I don't want to get involved as much as possible.
"Ah, Yukinon! It's the 2 new transfer students in our class they're Horikita and Ayanokoji"
"Okay now I understand, can we hear the request first before we agree? I'm not able to guarantee our cooperation before we know what's the request"
It was like I was watching two experienced business women debating with each other, I simply don't want to be here any longer but before I could try and escape Miss Hiratsuka looked at me with her fist clenched, almost like she was saying 'Go ahead and try'.
This was an abuse of power, the amount of stress that's happening right here is a daily occurrence in the workforce, this entire event makes me want to be a house-husband even more!
"You see... those 2 are defective"
The mood in the room dropped instantaneously, defective, What does she even mean? Even if they were below average calling someone defective based on grades alone is too much.
"The girl Horikita thinks that cooperation is unnecessary and that she could make it on her own"
Yukinoshita flinched at this explanation as this was how you could describe her a year ago. She's improved this second year but she still has the tendencies of doing most of the work all by herself. Someone calling a person with the same traits as defective probably hit close to home with her.
"And the boy Ayanokoji, I'm not even sure if he's defective or broken. It has something to do with his upbringing but it's almost like he knows nothing about society as a whole, in turn when it comes to school, be it physical or academics, he's unmatched.
I request that you both try to fix them"
Perhaps the issues those two had resonated with Yukinoshita that she didn't reject such an outrageous request outright.
"And how do we 'fix' them?"
"You should be able to change her viewpoint so that she discovers the value of comrades and as for Ayanokoji... I request you make him into an actual human. As he is right now he's no better than a machine, make him into a person who will fit into society using any means. If you request funds then contact this person, he should be more than happy to provide it to you
Of course we aren't requesting this from you all for free. 500,000 yen if the results you give us are satisfactory"
500,000!? Just who are those two? Why would anyone even willing to spend that much money on us?
Given since Yukinoshita was already well off, she wouldn't need the money anyways but still! 500,000 just like that!
"I see... I thought the name was familiar but to think that he'd be the son of that man, I can't think of anyone else who can dish out large amounts of money to students like us"
Wait, does Yukinoshita know about this transfer student? Does Yuigahama know anything about this? They're close friends so if anyone would know then it'd be her. I whispered so that no one would notice
"Hey Yuigahama, does Yukinoshita know about the new student?"
But she only shook her head, just who is that kid?
While I was left pondering, Miss Chabashira continued the conversation.
"Oh so you know about him? Then are you willing to accept our request?"
She smiled as she spoke but it didn't reach her eyes.
"If it's actually that person then I don't have much of a choice do I? Fine I accept"
Yukinoshita smiled wryly as she accepted...
My whole world was flipped on me, I knew the transfer students were trouble but for it to be this deep...
Just who are you people!? Especially you Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?
Afterword:
Hello it's me the author, my friends started writing on Wattpad so I thought I'd give it a try too
Anyways sorry about any errors since English isn't my first language so there's that, feel free to correct this pea brain of mine
Hope you enjoyed the story!
And btw no, I don't own the art nor do I own the characters the only thing I own is the story
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