A/N:
Hope you enjoy the cringe!
---
I used to think being an adult seemed like a lot of fun and freedom.
Then I realize... nope, it really sucks now that I'm almost an adult.
I just graduated high school.
I keep wondering, will my buddies and I stay the same after that?
We'll all be busy with our own lives soon.
Even so, no matter how busy our lives get, I don't think we'll ever forget about each other.
We've been like brothers since we were little, sharing the same cramped room with two bunk beds in that rundown orphanage.
Later after the graduation ceremony. We celebrated our high school graduation by traveling to the countryside, NZ, and later Japan.
However, life never really goes according to plan, yeah it sucks.
On the last trip of our celebration holiday...
Truck-kun crashed into me.
There was no pain. I couldn't even move. No tears or mourning.
I just stared at my three idiot brothers, who looked at me without a hint of sadness. Instead of those cliché moments, what I heard from them was...
"Fuck! That truck is running away! Should we call an ambulance or just… let him die? I mean, if he dies, we could get his insurance money. Kekeke!—cough! I mean, don't worry, we'll use your savings well, brother. I'll get revenge and sue the truck's company for running away! At least, I'll take half their assets to make you rest in your grave peacefully. So, don't worry and die. Please! I beg you!"
"Man, he just got hit by a truck and died that easily? How weak. He should at least have gone to the gym more often like me. Tch, tch. But don't worry, my friend, it was really fun knowing you. I shall remember you for the rest of my life."
"Hm... don't worry, I'll clear your browser history. So, rest in peace."
Fuck these retards! Shouldn't they be a bit emotional? I was dying, come on!
Dying at the age of 17 was such a waste. I mean, what the fuck! My life wasn't so bad. I had gotten myself into the best med school in Europe. Here in the US is not that bad, but I'm broke as fuck. Yeah, fuck student loans. Anyway, my dream had always been to become a surgeon.
Why did I have to die? This sucks.
Wait, no… just kidding! Hahahahaha! Well, you'll know why.
"I'm home..."
It's Monday, six in the morning.
I just finished jogging around the neighborhood and arrived at my new home.
"Hmm… it's weird to see Hachiman waking up so early in a tracksuit. Are you really Hachiman? Hm~ Komachi is happy, but don't push those legs too much, okay? Anyway, welcome back, Onii-chan!"
"How mean," I smirk. "Yeah, I'm back. Oh? I was about to cook breakfast, but you beat me to it."
Komachi rubs her nose with a smug look.
"Hehehe~ Of course, since Komachi is the best little sister, I won't allow Onii-chan to cook."
Such a cute little sister.
When I arrived, I saw Komachi in her apron as she made breakfast.
Yeah, that's right.
Somehow, I woke up in the body of 15-year-old Hikigaya Hachiman.
At first, I thought I was going crazy or that this was simply a dream people have when they die.
After two days, I knew that this was reality, and I accepted it.
Since I'm a huge anime fan, which makes me an Otaku, it wasn't too difficult to believe. Of course, if you asked me in real life, I'd never admit that I'm an Otaku. But I knew. I had become the protagonist of my favorite novel, Oregairu.
I'm really glad those bastards let me die back then.
Because now, I'm happy to have my own family. Sigh, I'm sorry boys, and I wish the best for the former Hachiman.
"Uwa… why did Onii-chan start praying out of nowhere?"
Komachi looked at me strangely.
"It's nothing~ I'm just grateful to have a little sister, that's all."
"Ooh?! Ahahaha! Of course, you should be grateful~ For that, Komachi will give Onii-chan 80 points!"
What is this fanfiction main character moment? For real, man. It's easy for me to forget my past since this new life fills that void.
"I'll help you out a bit."
"Hmm mou~ I told you it's alright. Well, since Onii-chan insists, I'll let this slide for now. But you should hurry up before Dad sees us like this."
"Nah, it's okay since this is normal."
I smiled helplessly since Mr. Hikigaya, my father, seemed a little too clingy to his daughter. He keeps saying that if I get too close to her, he'll kill me. Why? I'll not turning this house to alabama household.
"Normal? There's nothing normal about us looking like a couple preparing breakfast, hm~? Wait, I never knew Onii-chan had such knife skills. Don't tell me you've been cooking behind Komachi's back?"
When I saw Komachi pouting, I just giggled, she was just teasing me.
"Well, I just copied it from my bro—cough!"
"Huh? Since when do you have a friend who's good at cooking?"
"I mean, I saw it on ViTube."
"That's a lie! Just look at this, it usually takes me time to chop everything, but Onii-chan does it instantly."
"Hm…" I hummed. "Maybe I have a talent for this?"
"That smug look is a challenge for Komachi. Alright! Let's have a cooking match after school is over," Komachi said with a grin.
"Okay, don't cry when my food is better."
"Fufu~ So be it!"
---
(Hachiman's POV)
It's weird.
I just barely graduated from high school, but suddenly I've become a high schooler again.
Watching my new face, I thought to myself that I'm not gay, but Hachiman's face could be handsome if he fixed these dead eyes. Yesterday, I found a pair of round glasses, which explains his poor eyesight. Maybe he didn't like wearing glasses, but I decided to wear them anyway.
"Well, I used to wear glasses too, so it doesn't matter."
It'll take time, but eventually, I won't need them if my eyesight improves. When I wear them, I don't have to squint all the time, and Hachiman's dead eyes don't show anymore, except for the ahoge on top of my head. Right, gotta fix this later.
As time passed, I headed out to school with Komachi. The air was warm. Yeah, it's summer and the summer break is over. More importantly, there is something different from the original Oregairu.
Firstly, Hikigaya household lives in Tokyo instead of Chiba. I also noticed that our house is in a rich neighborhood, meaning Hachiman's parents are well-off. Whether Hachiman was rich in the original is irrelevant because I also noticed this world is a crossover.
"What is it, Onii-chan?"
"Nothing…"
My sister asked because I was staring at her white middle school uniform from Shuchi'in Academy.
"Then why are you staring at Komachi's uniform so much? Don't tell me?! Uniforms are Onii-chan's new fetish?"
No way. As I said before, this world is a crossover. The fact that my sister and I are enrolled at Shuchi'in Academy is something that shouldn't happen in the original. Well, there's more to be surprised about.
"Don't misunderstand. In my eyes, my sister's uniform is just normal fabric. That's right, I'm not seeing Komachi that way."
"Whoa~ It's okay, so don't be shy, Onii-chaaan~~ It's rude to say that when Komachi is the cutest little sister. I mean, I'm quite popular in school too, you know?"
"Well, I'm quite the siscon, so reject all the guys even if it kills them."
Komachi giggled at me, "Fufu~ Komachi already knows that Onii-chan is such a dishonest tsundere~"
If boys start approaching her, I'll beat the crap out of them.
After walking for about 10 minutes, we arrived at Shuchi'in Middle School.
Well, I had to make sure my sister was safe before anything else. Also, I didn't have to worry about being late since, even though it was separate, all I needed to do was walk a little bit to the high school.
"Right then, Komachi will see you later~"
"Yeah, see you again."
She waves at me as Komachi runs to her friends. As I watched her, I suddenly heard a metal clacking sound and glanced over.
"Sigh… another D-rank gate, huh?"
"You're complaining when you're weak. Our party isn't strong enough for a C-rank gate."
About twelve people walked past me in heavy armor, wizard-like robes, and some even carrying huge staffs. While cosplaying was a common sight here, but for your information, they weren't cosplaying at all.
Having just woken up two days ago, you might think I'm a creepy siscon. But the world has gone crazy since tunnels to other worlds, called Gates, appeared 10 years ago. Then humanity unexpectedly acquired magical abilities and started hunting monsters.
I think, being a siscon is justified enough.
Well, I later realized that this world is modeled after Solo Leveling when I recognized key characters such as Thomas Andre, the American national-level hunter, and Cha Hae In, the recent 9th Korean S-rank hunter. Since I am now Japanese, I even saw a billboard featuring Tawata Kanae, a Japanese S-rank hunter.
Yeah, it's a crossover world.
"Crap… it feels so weird to have just graduated and now I'm back. Damn. This school is exactly like the anime."
I arrived at my school.
Looking at this high school, it's the exact place where Love is War takes place. After that, I entered the school, but later I felt something was weird.
I blended into the new environment without any problems, but at the same time, it felt like my first time here. After all, I wasn't Japanese before. It's awkward.
To be honest, I don't remember much of Hachiman's memories except for his family, some basic common sense about being Japanese, and his painful experiences. Plus, I don't have Hachiman's personality. While he's not a hated character, I don't want his personality to change who I am.
"1B…"
I found my class without any trouble. When I slid the door open, people started gazing at me.
"Eh, who is he?"
"Transfer student?"
"He looks familiar though."
There wasn't a significant change except in Hachiman's attitude and his eyes, but Hachiman's classmates didn't recognize him. This noticeable indifference happened because Hachiman had been hit by a car due to a stupid dog, so he was hospitalized, which later made him an outcast since everyone had already formed their circles.
Yeah, that hasn't changed apparently.
Others were curious about me because they had treated Hachiman like air before, and the fact that summer break had just ended a week ago made Hachiman's presence even worse.
After that, I sat down in my chair at the back of the class, and by then, my classmates realized who I was.
"Oh? He's that gloomy dude."
"Yeah, he always sat alone and didn't talk much."
"I remember that he broke his legs or something…"
It took some time before they got busy with their own things again and ignored that one guy who changed a little.
It didn't matter, though. With that, the class started, and time passed quickly until the sound of the old bell ringing signaled lunchtime.
I got up, as this was what I had been waiting for. I stopped a moment and glanced around.
In this class, I already noticed characters from both Oregairu and Love is War. Hachiman's classmates like in the anime, Yuigahama Yui, Kawasaki Saki, trap Saika, and Hayama's circle. Then, there was Fujiwara Chika and side characters like Shijo Maki, although I didn't see the main character here.
Well, it was good to see these characters, but what piqued my interest was the blue window floating in front of me since the moment I became Hachiman two days ago.
[Quest: Come to your school's rooftop within two days of receiving this message!]
[Reward: System activation]
I could hide this blue floating window, but it always popped out to remind me of the quest. I wondered why I needed to go to the school rooftop to activate the system.
Well, it didn't matter.
What mattered was that I had a cheat!
Wohooo! Yes yes yes!
With this, I could protect myself and my family from monsters.
Of course, cough! This cliché development would end up with me gathering my harem. I mean, I'm not confused. I don't have to be that one hypocritical main character from some fanfic who struggles to convince himself to have a harem and then leads me to long-ass shit development.
With a smile, I walked through the hallway. I walked up the staircase that led me to the rooftop. When I opened the door, I suddenly heard someone counting with heavy breaths as if this person was doing push-ups.
"I was right," mumbling, I looked at the guy with grey hair.
I understood why he was so excited. I'm sure he was motivated to lose some weight.
Wait, isn't he Hachiman's friend with eighth-grade syndromes?
His name is Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, right? I remembered him when Hachiman and the Service Club reviewed his light novel draft.
"Nico, was he the last one?"
"I don't kn—yaaaaawn~"
Nico? My heart suddenly stopped when I heard it.
I shut the door as I looked at the two people I knew.
The guy with a serious face, blonde hair, and blue eyes, Shirogane Miyuki, and on his left, the sleepy guy with neck-length black hair covering his left eye, Ishigami Yu.
Given that I attended Shuchi'in, these guys were undoubtedly the main characters from Love is War.
So why were they here? Shouldn't they be strangers to each other at this time? After all, Shirogane Miyuki is still a first-year like me, and Ishigami Yu is still in his final year of middle school.
When the three of us looked at each other, "Huft! Fuck! This body is a failure! What the fuck is going on? It's like I'm just eating cheeseburgers six times a day! Bring me back to my body! My 10 abs!" the grey-haired dude shouted.
I gulped.
"Hah… how long do I have to wait for this shit? Come on, system. Time is money and I need money! Fuck this! Why should I become this random dude and lose all my investment!"
Glancing, that blonde dude was yapping something familiar.
"Hah… this is bullshit. Clear blue sky… really peaceful. I'm sleepy now. Please, wake me up when I care."
That laziness.
"You, errand boy. I notice you're looking at us way too much. What's the problem? For your information, this place has been reserved, which means you're in the wrong place."
Zaimokuza Yoshi—crap, his name is too long. Anyway, he walked toward me, glaring while cracking his fists.
"Wait, actually I'm here for—"
This is bad! This guy didn't even care about what I was going to say; he already swung his fist at me!
"Oh…"
He smiled as I managed to avoid it. I glanced at the two, Miyuki watching us with amused eyes, while Yu didn't seem interested at all. That devilish smile from Miyuki. I was certain that these fuckers were…
"Wait, I'm here because of the System quest!"
"HAHAHA! Cut the crap. If you can dodge that, there's no reason to stop this fight. What about this then—uh?"
I grabbed his right upper sleeve and then tackled his left foot as I pushed him down.
"I'm trying to be easy here, but fuck! You didn't even want to listen!"
My right fist went to his face as he smirked. What was he going to do? But then, I widened my eyes as a blue window appeared. I stopped, and I could see, this dude had the same facial expression as me.
[Quest has been completed!]
[Congratulations players!]
[Welcome player Chris aka Shirogane Miyuki]
[Welcome player Nico aka Ishigami Yuu]
[Welcome player Nolan aka Hikigaya Hachiman]
[Welcome player Rudy aka Zaimokuza Yoshiteru]
These names... shit.