Chapter 5 - Plot Begins!

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(-Continuation-)

(-After Two Weeks-)

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(Hachiman Hikigaya's POV)

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𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗹. 

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵. 

𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵.

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗱.

𝗧𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲: 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱-𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗲.

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"You are the one who needs to drop Dead Hikigaya." My Japanese teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, popped a vein as she finished reading my essay.

With a deep sigh, Ms. Hiratsuka placed a hand on her head and peered down at the paper in front of her. "Say, can you tell me what the assignment was that I gave you in class?"

She asked in a resigned tone, holding up the essay I had submitted.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Hiratsuka? You wanted us to write an essay on the theme : Reflecting on My Life in High School, right?" I responded with a calm and straightforward question.

"What's with the look that says something is wrong on my part, Mr. Smart Ass? Don't forget, it's your ideas and views that are rotten!"

"They are not rotten, Ms. Hiratsuka. And, let's be honest, isn't that how 'brats' think nowadays?" I defended my views and beliefs, ignoring her somewhat confrontational tone.

She scoffed. "You are also a brat, Hikigaya! And how can you be so flavorless?"

"I am not a brat." I declared it proudly. "Don't jinx me with those fools addicted to youth. I am beyond their league, Ms. Hiratsuka."

 "Agreed. You are more like a soulless fish. And where is this arrogance coming from?" Ms. Hiratsuka complained.

Arrogance? Do I come across like that?

I don't know.

"Ms. Hiratsuka. It seems I have failed to properly convey my thoughts in this essay. Why don't you give me a day or so? I am sure I will prepare a better one and be able to convince you this time." I suggested acknowledging my shortcomings.

"Who needs to be convinced by whom, idiot?" She shot back at me with an angry glare.

"Of course it is you." An immediate reply from me that is full of certainty.

"That's it! You are a lost cause."

"No, we just have different perspectives, and that's okay. Let's agree to disagree."

Yeah, there is no need to fight. I am willing to coexist peacefully unless I am consciously bothered.

"Ugg, what am I gonna do with you?"

"There is nothing that needs to be done, Ms. Hiratsuka."

"Oh, trust me, there is a lot." Ms. Hiratsuka held her fist to her forehead with her eyes flashing, shooting daggers at me, as if she were bracing herself for some action.

"..." However, my instincts warned me of the impending danger to my response, and I heeded their advice by staying silent.

After a moment of tense silence, she abruptly changed the subject. "You haven't tried joining any clubs, have you?"

"Clubs? If you are referring to the practice where a bunch of people with a common purpose or interest meet regularly and take part in shared activities, then you are asking the wrong person."

I would still like to continue with my babbling, but the spectator, Ms. Hiratsuka, wasn't keen on my views as she gave another death stare full of malice. 

"..!!..." My body stiffened just looking at her expression to avoid the worst case scenario that is triggering her any further.

 I got straight to the point. "*ahem, no, ma'am."

"That's it! I think I have a way of correcting your 'wrongdoing'. Now, follow me. No arguments." Using a firm tone, Ms. Hiratsuka instructed me to follow her, indicating that she has a plan or course of action in mind.

"I would prefer to know where we are headed." I politely requested more clarity.

"Oi, I said, NO arguments."

"Yes, ma'am." Hearing Ms. Hiratsuka's emphasized words, I complied with her request and simply followed behind her.

….well it is not like I am completely clueless about the current happenings.

I just asked her for the sake of it.

I mean, wouldn't it be suspicious if I had followed her without any protest, just for the reason she said not to argue?

Especially considering my typically cautious(:rebellious) character.

But enough about that. If you still haven't caught on to what I am talking about and the situation I find myself in, let me lay it out for you.

Since I bunk-...*ahem, I mean I was on medical leave for the last term of my first year, you could say my second year is the beginning of my high school journey post-accident.

So it could be said that this is my first real experience of high school after all the changes I have gone through.

And let me tell you, these first couple of weeks back at school have been anything but exciting. In fact, they have been painfully mundane and dull. 

So let's directly skip over all that and get straight into the current predicament at hand.

Ms. Hiratsuka is now dragging me with her invisible force, and obviously, according to the plot, our destination should be the Service Club, all on account of punishing me.

Honestly, I am unable to comprehend her reasoning behind such an atypical punishment, or is it even considered a punishment? 

No. Maybe if this was the old me, then I suppose it can be considered a punishment, and a pretty big one at that. Only for the old me, though.

As for the current me, I am not sure what exactly it meant to me, but it is definitely not a punishment.

For now, the scenario is unfolding just as it did in the show, or at least from what I can recall.

Alas, it's more like I am willingly allowing it to play out.

I manifestly made a handful of calculated decisions, being fully aware that I was following the storyline, such as writing the essay on 'Youth' and now following behind Ms. Hiratsuka silently…

In spite of all this conscious effort, I really don't have a solid explanation to defend my choice to follow the story.

…at some point, for whatever reason, it seemed like an obvious choice to me.

Do I even need a valid reason for doing so?

As I have stated earlier, my views are still quite similar to those of my previous self. Meaning whatever I have written in the assignment are my ideals and thought process.

However, the current me would prefer to keep my ideals to myself instead of gathering trouble by vocalizing them.

Or, in more clear terms, I have gained more patience and control over myself, allowing me to check my urge to spread my [Unlimited Wisdom].

So yeah, I am fully aware of what I am getting myself into by doing this, and I know how the previous-Me-in the show got tangled up in a love triangle and ultimately made a choice.

Even after all this, if I really had to explain my reason, it is related to my slight intrigue and-

…admiration towards one of the main characters of the show.

…and personally, I also think that we would get along quite well if we were ever to meet in person.

Nonetheless, I am not a teenager who is head over heels just because I admire her personality and the way she carries herself.

Sure. Maybe I am a teenager. 

But I am no fool.

…so, no way that I am possibly busted already.

-NO WAY-

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"We are here." Ms. Hiratsuka announced.

"Hikigaya, I am surprised you really don't bother me again." She 'complimented' me for not nagging, I presume.

"No need to be surprised, Ms. Hiratsuka. I simply prefer not to waste my energy on pointless matters." I replied casually, my eyes scanning the plain corridor where we stood.

Nothing stood out except for the plain corridor. There wasn't even a sign telling us which room this was.

"Well then, let's go in." Nodding to my reply, Ms. Hiratsuka's hand directly reached out to open the sliding door with a clatter.

"Ms. Hiratsuka…–" I interrupted.

"What~? I thought you said you don't want to waste your energy on pointless arguments." She teased me with a smirk.

"I am not contradicting my statement." I defended myself. "But, I believe it's basic courtesy to knock before entering a room."

"Tsk! Shut it, Hikigaya." 

She used the same practical, tried-and-tested technique that every adult uses to oppress the younglings when they point out elders' flaws.

"..." I fell silent, deciding it wasn't worth arguing over such a small matter.

There were more important things to focus on anyways.

Truth be told, I am a little nervous… and maybe a little excited too, and come on, let's be real. Who wouldn't be?

The chance of having a face-to-face meeting in real life with the character that people only get to see on display? 

…well, sure, I had spoken to a few people before, including my sister and Ms. Hiratsuka, but they don't really count. In fact, if it were anyone else, I wouldn't be feeling anywhere near as anxious as I do now.

It reminded me of the day I felt a similar level of anxiety when I signed the contract with the company.

But even back then, I think I was much calmer than I am now, even though that decision had the potential to completely alter my life's trajectory.

Let me give you a heads-up here. My anxiety is not due to a lack of preparation, but rather because I am fully prepared.

You get what I am trying to say, right?

Hum… Anyway, it's a truly unfathomable feeling to experience.

–Huffuuu~~(:exhale)

After taking a deep breath to steady myself, I entered the classroom behind Ms. Hiratsuka.

"Excuse me." I announced my presence, unlike certain individuals who barged in unannounced.

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[To be continued….]

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