A/N: Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead. At least not yet. In any case, I apologise to those of you who expected me to make a comeback with another NaMi fanfic. I'd love to but I was just in the mood for some SNAFU after being hyped by the confirmation of a Season 3. I don't really have much to say about this one shot. I am, understandably rusty from not having written in forever, but I hope this fic doesn't disappoint you readers. As always, do review and tell me how it is. It was particularly hard for me to capture Hachiman's character since most fics either have him as a funny sarcastic MC with a ton of gags or a serious one with several monologues. What I've done here is try to make the best of both worlds whilst simultaneously making sure he's more direct with his feelings. Of course, this makes him a bit more OOC than I'd prefer. Enjoy the fic. I'll see you guys at the bottom of this page.
Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu. If I did, the anime would've had more Saki scenes.
Irritation
Man is subject to several emotions despite almost all of them being unnecessary and meaningless, dare I say depreciative since they also happen to drain away the energy required for one to live. The most prime of these emotions would be irritation.'Oh Hachiman, experiencing emotions is so important for living a fulfilling life. Of course, irritation is something you should go through too, you cute idiot'
If that's what you're thinking then you're better off not using that brain of yours. I, a self proclaimed loner, has no use of such an emotion. Or rather, I wouldn't be able to experience it.
Irritation is a state of being angry, impatient or annoyed. Since I'm a generally indifferent man, I have nothing I feel strongly for, hence I'm incapable of being angry. Since one of my hidden 108 traits (not to be confused with the legendary 108 skills) is being patient, it is not humanly possible for me to be impatient. To be annoyed one must have certain expectations that need to be defiled, since I don't hold any expectations from anyone or anything, I have no reason to be annoyed either. Now that we've established my incapability of being irritated, let's ask ourselves a question.
Why do I feel irritated right now?
Naturally one would assume it's because I'm a liar, creep and Hachiman. Oh wait, only Yukinoshita would do something like that. Say a lie enough times and it becomes the truth huh? Damn it all. Anyway, any sane person would blame the scene before me. What's the scene before me, you ask? Allow me to illustrate.
Flashback
The staff room was mostly empty, save for my Modern Literature teacher. Knowing it's after school hours, one wouldn't be surprised with this lack of personnel. What would surprise them however, is the faint sobs that resonated through out the walls of the room. Any normal person would generally wait outside and some would even be bold enough to ask the woman what bothered her. This is why riajuu never accomplish anything in their lives. A loner like myself, however would efficiently deal with the situation.
Despite my better judgement and instinct, I made my way to the cubicle and came face to face with the teacher. The scene before me only further worsened the invisible tightness in my heart (Efficiency banzai!)
Hiratsuka-sensei was on the floor and curled up against the wall of her cubicle. Her arms wrapped against her knees as she huddled them against her ample chest. She was sobbing into her knees. The teacher's attire was the same as ever, a lab coat over her infamous bartender outfit.
My eyes softened at the sight before me and I unconsciously relaxed the tense expression I had unknowingly adorned on my face. The empty and murky feeling only strengthened as I faced her.
Flashback End
I sighed. She didn't deserve this. She knew that. I knew that. So why she continued to hurt herself like this was beyond me.
Looking around I tried to gauge the situation thoroughly, or at least as thoroughly as I possibly could with my teacher a bawling mess right next to me. Her desk was disorganised and messy, more so than usual. Her phone was unlocked and seemed to be displaying a series of message exchanges. I already had a rough idea as to what the messages would be about so I decided to forego checking her phone.
What's that? I can't just go around looking at other people's phones. Touché. One also cannot viciously punch her students to vent her frustrations. However that has never stopped my Christmas cake sensei from doing so. I say it's only fair. Anyway, as one would expect from me, I already knew what this would be about so I didn't have to check the phone anyway. There go 5 minutes of monologuing I'm never getting back.
Deciding to make my presence known, I pull up a chair and prop myself upon it.
Third person POV
Hikigaya, now seated upon the wonderful piece of furniture, faced the teary eyed teacher.
"Hiratsuka-sensei" he started, garnering the attention of the said person. Said woman let out, what one could only describe as a cute squeal. Naturally, my face was now tinted red, having seen his usually composed sensei let out a cute squeal. Nevertheless, the cynic tried to continue. Keyword : tried.
"You kno-"
"I'm sorry you had to see that. It completely slipped my mind that I had asked you to meet me after hours. Heh. So I'm forgetting things already, one more reason I'm never getting married," Hiratsuka interrupted, apologising to the cynical loner, whilst frantically wiping away her tears. The loner in question decided to arbitrarily disregard her and continue.
"You know, you don't deserve this. I get that you want to find someone to be with and that you're desperate to do so. However, that doesn't serve as an excuse for you to dedicate your time and feelings to worthless pieces of trash. I'm tired of seeing one of the most beautiful women I know do this to herself." Hikigaya said, effectively shutting up the teacher. As the teacher took his words in, Hikigaya continued with his barrage.
"You keep telling me that I shouldn't hurt myself to solve others problems. That the way I've employed since I was a kid has always been wrong and only serves to hurt the ones close to me. Am I right?" Hikigaya asked, an earnest look present in his eyes.
"Yes but where are you going with this?" Hiratsuka replied, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Sensei, what you're doing right now. Dating men for the sake of it. Lowering your value as a woman just because no one realises your true worth. Getting yourself hurt, in a vain attempt to satisfy your idea of love. It hurts me." Hikigaya replied, averting his eyes as a blush creeped onto his face. The mentor's cheeks too now sported a bright red hue at her student's words.
"I had no idea." Hiratsuka squeaked out, too nervous and embarrassed to say anything else. Hikigaya couldn't help but chuckle at the teacher's dere side. It was a rare thing for her to be speechless, even more so to be a blushing mess.
Hikigaya decided to stop and take a deep breath, trying to compose myself. For a riajuu to say such things was expectable. For a loner like him, it was a death sentence. As he looked over at the teacher, he noticed two things. One, no longer was she on the floor, she was now standing at her full height. Two, he found a grin adorning her previously tear streaked face. Needless to say, he saw where this was going.
"Hikigaya, you do realise you're in no position to give me love advice. You still haven't replied to their confessions yet." Hiratsuka replied, gauging the cynical man before her for a reaction. Contrary to what she was expecting, Hikigaya smiled and continued the conversation, effectively ignoring her comments.
"Oh but I have replied to them. I decided to decline both their confessions."
If one were to use the word surprise to describe her expression. It would be erroneous and an understatement. She was always under the impression that he liked one of them and hence, was reasonably in awe when he put forward his claim. However, a mischievous grin overtook her face.
"Well, well, quite the playboy huh? I always thought you had a thing for one of them at least, probably Yukino. Ne Hikigaya, does this mean you have someone you like?" Hiratsuka said, lightly elbowing the boy before her. An 'ouch' and a few mutters later, he replied.
"Sensei, I have to say, this is pretty creepy, even for you." As the words came out, he immediately regretted them. A dark aura now surrounded the Literature teacher, as one of her infamous punches met his abdomen. Before it could go anymore downhill, Hikigaya made the wise decision to reply appropriately.
"I do. I have someone I like." Hikigaya blurted out. Taking advantage of the silence that followed, he put together his thoughts and continued.
"She's actually a part of this school. I would ask her out but I honestly don't think she'd accept me. She's beautiful and independent. A bit aggressive at times but I love that about her too. Not to mention she understands me like no one else. If there's anyone I can find my genuine thing with, it's got to be her." Hikigaya continued, a gentle smile taking over his usually scowling face as he was lost in his thoughts.
"Hikigaya. I have to say, I'm proud of you. Guess putting you in the service club was worth it after all. Also, I'm the last person you should be taking advice from but you should Kawasaki out quickly. I have a feeling she likes you too." Hiratsuka replied, chuckling to herself as she awaited the look of surprise on his face. However, instead of surprise, the expression she was met with was confusion.
"Sensei, you're usually very smart but you must be pretty stupid if you think Kawasaki's the one I like." Hikigaya replied, smirking at the teacher. Generally he'd be one hit KO'd for his insolence but courtesy of Hiratsuka-sensei's good mood, he was let off the hook. She instead, opted to ask him who the mystery girl was.
"If it isn't Kawasaki, then who is it? There's no one else who fits that description." Hiratsuka questioned, a puzzling look on her face.
"Oh but there is. Why don't you try guessing again? Hikigaya replied, eliciting a sigh from the woman.
"Not interested. Although my advice still stands. If you like someone, you should ask them out as soon as possible. Trust me, brooding over how it's gonna go won't do you any good." Hiratsuka replied, dismissing Hikigaya's proposal and effectively placing him in a silenced state.
...
...
...
...
A tick appeared on Hiratsuka's forehead as the boy seemed to have yet again retreated into one of his monologues. However, before she could bring down the hammer of justice upon him, he spoke.
"Sensei" he started, his generally cold eyes, now holding a serious look. Hiratsuka couldn't recall the last time he had worn such a look.
"Y-Yes?" She squeaked out unable to maintain her composure whilst under his gaze.
"You're the most beautiful woman I know. You've been more than just a mentor to me. You've helped me when I didn't realise I need help. You've let me rely on you when everything seemed to crash. When everything was going wrong, you were the only thing that's right. What I am now, is only because of you. I know I'm the self proclaimed king of loners and that I always mock others around me for trying to find love. But I can't do this anymore. I can't just stand by and watch you hurt yourself. I refuse to bury my feelings just because of what others would think." Hikigaya confessed, his eyes glistening with tears. It was hard for him to always suppress his feelings around her. Confessing before her seemed to take away a burden he didn't know he was shouldering.
Taking one final pause to ready himself for what he was about to do, he let the dreaded words out.
"Hiratsuka Shizuka, I love you. Will you go out with me?"
The confession had taken Hiratsuka by surprise. She couldn't possibly have imagined that she was the one who Hikigaya liked. However, that didn't matter now. What mattered was that Hikigaya had just confessed and he needed an answer.
Pushing her brain into overdrive, she desperately tried to figure out what to do. A relationship between a student and teacher was, by all means, impossible. Society wouldn't look too kindly at them either. Not to mention the age gap would also change the dynamics of the relationship vehemently. She could find a plethora of reasons to deny him this opportunity. After all, he would eventually get over her right? But what if he didn't? What if this really was his only chance and not to mention hers?
The prolonged pause seemed to have given the loner the impression that he was rejected bar verbal confirmation. A disheartened look donned his face as he shut his eyes to prevent the tears from cascading down his cheeks. As he turned around and started walking, he heard Hiratsuka speak.
"I'm very selfish." She blurted out, taking a step closer to him
"I'm selfish too. We can be selfish together." He replied, his heart racing faster than ever.
"I smoke and I'm terrible influence." She continued, her eyes tearing up.
"I fell for my teacher and I just asked her out." He replied, chuckling to himself and taking another step towards the woman he loved.
"You're gonna have to take care of me when I grow old and wrinkly before you" She declared, desperately trying to get him to back off.
"Weren't you the one who said I already think like an old man?" He replied, taking another step towards her. Their faces just inches away.
"I'd always come home late due to work. You'd be very lonely." She reasoned, a single tear falling from her amethyst eyes.
"Doesn't matter, our kids would keep me company." He replied, smiling as he closed the gap between their lips.
A/N: And it's finally done. It feels good to finally finish this one up. That aside, I'm happy to have added another fic to the Oregairu community. I actually have several other girls I'd love to pair with Hachiman so let me know if I should write a few more one-shots. This one wasn't as angsty as all my fics usually are but I feel satisfied with what it is now. Just putting it out there, I'm still open to ideas for one-shots and maybe even a multi-chap if it's good enough. As always, I'd apppreciate if you could review and tell me what I could've done better. The current pairings I'm okay with for Hachiman in order of preference goes:
Hikigaya X Haruno
Hikigaya X Hiratsuka
HachiSaki
HachiYuki
I'm also okay with a HachiYumi or Hikigaya X Shiromeguri pairing but I feel the others have better chemistry with him, not to mention lesser fics. I don't think a HachiYui pairing would work out and I'm also strongly against a Hikigaya X Iroha pairing.
Regards,
Zeph-sensei