Chapter 0: Prologue

As I walked up to my shoe locker, I could see several girls from my class in the corner of my vision. Though they hid behind another one of the many lockers that lined the entrance to our school, their snickering ruined any attempt they had made to hide. A sinking feeling filled my stomach. They acted nice when around Hayato-kun, but without him…

I could feel my body stiffen up as I reached my locker. Like Schrodinger's cat, there was no way to confirm the state of my locker without first opening it up and observing yet. Normally, one would naturally assume that shoes would be inside. After all, it was a shoe locker. Yet my arms stayed locked by my sides, hesitant to discover the truth inside. However, I understood that whatever was within my locker would not change no matter how long I stood here.

I exhaled a large sigh, unaware up until that moment that I had been holding my breath. As if forcing out the anxiety I felt with that sigh, I took in another breath, this time hoping to calm myself, if at the very least, only in appearance. Though I did little to oppose them, I didn't want to give those girls any more satisfaction then they already had. Slowly, I lifted my arm to the height of my locker and taking the handle, I pulled it open.

Gazing inside, I found my latest pair of white indoor shoes that students typically wore around school filled to the brim with dirt and weeds. A fresh coat of graffiti adorned the inside of the small cubby assigned to me, covering up the faded remnants of the previous scribblings. It was the typical various messages I had grown so used to seeing, though no less affected by—insults like, "Ugly!", or messages like, "Stop dragging down Hayato-kun," were a few of the tamer ones I had received this time around.

A weight settled itself heavily onto my chest and I could feel my breathing speeding up with every passing second. I couldn't remove my eyes from my locker, partly from shock and partly from embarrassment. I could hear the girls laughing from behind the corner of the lockers without a care as they realized I had discovered their handiwork within my locker, and I was especially glad right now that their cowardice meant they wouldn't face me directly. At the very least, they wouldn't get the joy of seeing my face as well.

A tear trailed its way down my cheek and I desperately focused to stop anymore from spilling out. I chocked back a sob that tried to escape my throat, a small whimper making its way out instead. Yet, like a dam with a leak, after the first drop spilled out, it was nearly impossible to stop the rest.

"You, bitches," a cold voice abruptly rang out. The blunt rudeness of a new voice gave me something else to focus on and I managed to stifle down my tears, though I could feel them teetering on the edge. Evidently, those girls weren't expecting this either as they were shocked silent by this sudden appearance, though they had begun whispering to one another in a low tone.

One stepped forward, the leader of those girls, to confront the newcomer. Angelica was popular with the rest of the class, both the boys and the girls, often being the leading voice of things. She was the one that acted nice towards me when I first showed up, and she was the one that lead the other girls in doing things behind my back.

"Hah? It's just Hikifroggy-kun. What did you just call me? You might have the top grades in our class, but who do you think you are acting so tough? You're just some nerd." With a sneer, she placed her hand on her hip, assuming her usual intimidation pose she had so often begun using on me as of late. The girls in the group went from giggling again, with Angelica having taken reins over the sudden and unexpected appearance.

"Tch-"

Once more, and with a simple scoff no less, the mysterious newcomer managed to shut those girls up.

"I wouldn't so high and mighty if I were you, Angelica. You see, I happened to see something interesting earlier, mainly, you and your lackeys over there messing around with that locker, so of course, I recorded it on this," he said, pulling out a small device. It was smaller than a camera, but he said he recorded something so it was most likely a phone. I didn't have one myself, but it wasn't unusual for students of our school to own one, considering our circumstances.

"So…?" Angelica questioned. She tried to maintain her haughty air, but her voice lacked the confidence it held earlier. Behind her, I could see that the other girls were much less composed, ruining their pack image.

"I drop such a big hint and you still don't get it? Are you really that big of an idiot? I'm surprised they let you into this school," he taunted. Waving his phone around to catch their attention, he continued. "What I'm saying is, it would be a real shame if I had to show this to a teacher. At the least, you'd have to go through several, painful, parent-teacher conferences, and worst case, I could get you expelled for your serious harassment of our poor classmate over there," he stated with a chuckle, as if he were talking about something humorous he had seen on television the other day.

"Whichever way it ends up for you, it'll entertain me." The humor dropped from his voice, baring forth an oppressive intensity. "So what'll it be, Angelica? How shall you entertain me?"

The girl that I had grown fearful of during my time here had been reduced to a trembling child. Apprehension showed on her expression and she no longer boasted the usual air of arrogance I had grown so accustomed to. I could clearly see through her last desperate attempt at maintaining some semblance of dignity, despite having been backed into a corner.

"Humph," she let out, turning towards the inner hallways. "Whatever, this was getting boring anyways." With one last bitter remark, she walked off towards the 6th year classrooms with the rest of her group following closely behind her.

Though the source of my problem had been dealt with for now, the problem itself still remained. I looked back at my locker and at the damage that had been done. With those girls gone, the strong urge to cry had once more forced its way up. No longer able hold them back, I sobbed, the tears flowing freely from my eyes. I realized how pathetic I must have seemed, sobbing like a child out in the open for everyone to see, but that only made it harder to hold back the tears.

"Oi, oi, don't cry…" begged the boy that drove them off. I had forgotten he was still here and the thought that despite how he had gone out of his way to help me, I had still given up, made me feel even worse. I could hear him sighing, in what I could only imagine to be annoyance. To my surprise though, he took my hand and helped me to sit down on the small wooden steps that lined the lockers. Even more shocking was the fact that he hugged my head to his chest and began stroking the back of my head, much like one would pet an animal.

Looking back upon it, it was a really embarrassing scene, wasn't it? Yet despite the fact that I was being comforted by a boy I had never met before, it was oddly soothing. I felt at ease in his warm embrace. I was a crying mess, but the petting of my head felt nice and helped in calming my chaotic emotions.

"Yosh, yosh. If you're going to cry, make sure you let it all out. You'll feel a lot better after words that way." With those words of encouragement, we sat there, as I continued to cry into his chest and he continued to caress my head. We stayed like that together until I had finally run out of tears.

⁂

"Sorry about holding you so closely all of a sudden, but I wasn't really sure what to do. It's just, whenever my younger sister starts crying, that'll usually help calm her down, though it's definitely a bit weird doing it to someone your own age," he said with a nervous chuckle. "Anyways, are you feeling a bit better now?"

I nodded my head. I was still exhausted from crying and it was a bit difficult forming coherent thoughts, but it was probably what was keeping my face from growing red from embarrassment as well.

"I'm sorry I didn't step in earlier as well. If I had caught them messing around with your shoes, I definitely would have stopped them. That whole part about having recorded them—that was a bluff. Thankfully those idiots fell for it." I nodded, showing my understanding and hoping to show my gratefulness as well. Beside me sat a boy the same age as me, who seemed genuinely upset and angry for me, despite me having never met him before. A small warmth filled my chest, alleviating the heavy weight that had pressed down so hard earlier.

"You're… Yukinoshita Yukino, right?"

"Eh? You… know me?" I asked, curious. I was sure I had never seen the boy sitting beside me before, yet he was aware of who I was.

"Of course," he replied as if it were natural, "We are in the same class after all."

"…"

"Wait… don't tell me… you don't recognize me?"

I studied his face, hoping perhaps for some hint to his identity. Medium length black hair sat messily on top of his head though a single strand noticeably stood straight up, separate from the rest giving him a boyish. No characteristics really stood out from his face and I found my sight drawn to his eyes hopeful for one last clue. His eyes were a light gray, and though they weren't unusual, I found myself drawn to them.

"Well?" he asked with a cough, snapping me out of my trance.

I quickly shook my head back and forth, before turning the opposite direction to hide the rapid flush that was quickly reddening my cheeks. All in all, his features were completely normal, with nothing giving me an indication that I recognized him, and was forced to conclude that I didn't know him.

Hanging his head, he let out a sigh. "I see. Then I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Hikigaya Hachiman. Like I said before, we're in the same class, so do try and remember me in the future, okay?"

Though I could tell he was joking around with the last part, I still couldn't help but feel somewhat embarrassed that he knew who I was, yet I couldn't say the same.

"I'm sorry… I'm not very good with names, or with people…" I realized just how pathetic I had sounded with my excuses, but it was also the truth. I wasn't much of a people person. That was always Nee-chan or Hayato-kun.

"Argh, I didn't want you to apologize," he groaned. I almost apologized again instinctively before he cut me off. "Look, instead of apologizing all the time, learn from your mistakes instead. You can pay me back by learning my name instead, got it?"

I nodded along, hoping I wouldn't do anything to earn my savior's ire again.

"While you're at it," he continued, "try and learn the rest of our classmates' names as well." He rubbed the back of his head and looked away. "I know… I know I'm the last person that should be saying anything like that, but it's an important thing to do."

I was confused about the meaning of his words, especially those last ones. His expression was hard to describe; it wasn't one I saw often. It reminded me of the face that I had seen Nee-chan make sometimes after speaking with mother. Whenever I asked her about it, she would pretend that nothing was wrong, but I'd caught a glimpse one or twice when she thought she was alone; she had looked so… sad. Unfortunately, before I could voice my concerns to the boy beside me, three chimes went off, echoing around the entrance hall and the hallways.

"Oh shoot!" he cried, his head turning to the side and his eyes focusing in on his target. My eyes followed, and a clock entered my range of vision, revealing we had about just under four minutes left to get to class. We both got up, him bolting up, and me more being pulled along, though his haste was understandable; if we hurried now, we could make it in time just before homeroom started. However, looking into my locker, I was once more reminded why we were here in the first place.

As the despair settled in again, the boy beside me saved me once more.

"Augh. You can't wear those shoes around the school like that. Hmm… I guess we don't have another choice."

Taking off his own shoes, he handed them to me. Well, rather than hand them, it's more like he forced them onto me.

"Here, take mine. They might be a bit loose, but it's better than nothing."

"Wait! What are you going to wear than?"

"I'll just have to wear my normal shoes than."

"If that's the case, I can just wear my normal shoes than."

"If you do that, Sensei will yell at you. I'll do it." Putting on his other shoes, he made his way down the hallway leaving no room to argue.

Yet, I had one last question I needed to ask.

"Wait! Why… why did you save me?" Why go through all that effort to help someone you didn't even know? For what reason did you help me?

"Huh? Do I need a reason to save someone who looks like they're asking for help?" He replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Now hurry up and put on those shoes or we're going to be late!"

⁂

Looking back, I can fondly say that was the turning point for everything. Circumstances soon after words brought me back to Japan, and I doubted that we would ever meet again. Regardless, his words back then memorialized themselves within my being. My hero… his words—from then on, I strove to do my best to fulfill them. He became my ideal.

…

So then why?

Why was Hikigaya Hachiman here at this school, giving some disgustingly pessimistic opening speech on the finer details of the social hierarchy?!

Author's Note:

Hello, blank-san here!

...

ARGH, I'M SO SORRY!

First of all, I'd like to apologize to all the people who are waiting for my other story, "My Other World Journey was Completely Unexpected". I promise you that I have not given up on the story; I simply have not had much time work on it recently. Unfortunately, I don't see myself being able to sit down and focus on it for a while either. With midterms coming up for most of my classes and the semester coming to a close in less than two months, I'll probably have to spend a majority of my time studying. This semester has definitely been my busiest (18 credits and only math and engineering classes is no joke). However, before I started writing out that story, I actually jotted down a rough outline of the plot for myself as well as a lot of the minor details concerning some of the more intricate devices within the story. When I am finally able to really focus on writing which should be around late December or early January, it should be relatively quick getting out some chapters. During the next semester as well, I have no need to take as many credits, which should give me time to update then as well, though on a less frequent schedule.

Anyways, regarding this story, it's been an idea that I had been playing around with for a while, having thought of it even before my other story. I wrote a rough draft out of the first couple of chapters around this time last year, though I never published it. This story shares the same premise, the idea that Yukinoshita had met Hikigaya when they were children, and the effects of that meeting on the development of their characters, as well as how they would react to their reunion many years later in high school. I know this doesn't necessarily make up for my late of updates these past couple of months, but it's an idea that's always intrigued me and a story that I've always wanted to work on ever since the idea popped into my head. Hopefully, it was to your liking and if you've made it this far down, thank you for reading.