And Suddenly, He Became A Girl

By GapMoe

Another chapter churned out, and at a good time too, the winter holidays really gave me time to work on the story and I can say with confidence that the storyboard has been created up to Vol.2 of Oregairu, so expect the chapters to come out a little more quickly and regularly.

Ch.5 -《Hierarchy》

As the bell rang, students began flowing in and out of the class, an air of relief had filled the classroom and students began filing to their places, some flew out of the room, presumably to the cafeteria or other classrooms while others began dragging chairs to other desks to sit and eat with friends. I pondered this as I stared out the window, the white noise of the rain adding a melancholic note to the atmosphere of the classroom I sat in. Normally I'd be wasting time reading but I'd left my books in the clubroom, and to top it off Komachi had left too early meaning that all I had for lunch was a simple convenience store pastry. What a bummer, the noise of the classroom meant that I couldn't even put my head down and catch up on some sleep before club after school, on top of that my usual spot by the tennis courts was out of the question considering the weather. Seriously, what a bummer. With nothing to do it leaves me with a lot of time to think.

The boredom was unbearable and since I decided I didn't want to drive myself insane by contemplating listlessly I began to look around the room and observe some of my classmates. The first group I had focused on were "those guys", the ones currently headfirst in a circle trying to play some game over a LAN connection. If I remember correctly their names we're Oda and Tahara or something, I briefly considered the prospect of joining them as I also played the same game, they seemed to be having fun too. Thus was the escape of videogames, manga, and anime, it was a solace that many loners valued and invested in and one that I took part in as well. I banished the notion from my mind. Considering my situation I'd be incredibly awkward for me to even interact with them in the first place, I was not looking to add a "quirky nerd girl" to my resumé. The stereotypical image of a cutesy girl who's only character trait was that she enjoyed videogames filled my head. I shuddered. Besides I'd already tried to interact with them once while in middle school.

I remember them talking about some anime and I had jumped in to try and add to the conversation. They both fell silent and looked at me, both confused. It was painful. On that note, I was worried they would recognize me but as it turns out my lonerism had worked to my favour and they seemed to have little to no recollection to who I was, much like the bulk of my middle schoolmates who had ended up at Sobu. After deciding not to dwell on dark past memories any longer my gaze fell upon a different group of people, I rested my head on my arms and turned my gaze towards them subtly as not to be noticed.

The aforementioned group was the popular clique, the rowdy and unruly group of troglodytes that filled the classroom with their much unwanted loud banter and presence. They weren't that interesting, it was funny how well they fit the mould, all the boys belonging to some sports team; basketball, soccer, baseball a collection of all the typical sports a Japanese guy would be interested in. The girls were similarly faceless, the term School Girl might as well have been a misnomer when referring to these girls, their attire designed to draw as much attention to them as possible. It was as if they were plants that required the attention to photosynthesize. Not that I'd know anything about that. Heads up, Yui was one of them.

A few individuals did stand out though, Yui was the obvious first mention, but two other individuals stood out. The first being Mr. Perfect himself, Hayato Hayama. He carried an aura of the alpha of the pack; if the others we're sparkly beings that lived to draw attention to themselves then he was the one that controlled the flow of that attention. He was the ace of the soccer team and it seemed he was on the cusp of the captain position. Good looking was an understatement and he seemed to have a constantly benevolent attitude. In other words, he was just another pretty boy, fuck him.

"Hayato, can't you like, skip for a day I really want some ice cream~." A voice said. That voice, of course, being Miura Yumiko. If Hayama was the supposed king then Miura would be the queen, his other half. Her hair was arranged in curls, almost ring-like and dyed blonde, her clothes we're no better, her shirt pulled down to show as much shoulder as possible and her skirt too high; it made you wonder what the point of wearing a skirt was in the first place. Despite her whorish appearance you definitely couldn't say that she was ugly. In fact, it was quite the opposite, she wasn't cute like Yui nor was she an untouchable flower like that of Yukino's beauty but she had her own flair. A fiery flare.

"Sorry, not today Miura, why don't you get someone else to go with you?" Hayama responded. A wave of excuses followed as the clique again degraded into a tangent of jokes and conversation. Suddenly a puppy barked.

"Mouu, Yumiko I've got somewhere to go so, umm do you mind if I step out?"

"Sure but can you grab some tea on your way back? I forgot my lunch so I have to eat this melon pan all dry and all."

"O-ohh, well umm I'm coming back as lunch ends and all, so since I'll be gone all lunch I don't really know if I can, haha."

Miura, of course, didn't look too happy at this response. What a surprise really it was as if she was surprised that Yui had any individuality at all. A puppeteer who's puppet had come to life.

"Didn't you say that you were busy after school too? What's up with you recently it's like you don't even want to hang out with us at all? Is something going on?"

"Sorry…"

"Don't just say sorry, c'mon, spit it out already." Yui didn't respond instead she looked at her shoes. Who could blame her, nobody would really be able to "spit it out" after that ordeal. Miura didn't really want her to say anything, she was just beating up on Yui and forcing her into a position of submission. I let out a chuckle only I could hear. Some so-called friends of hers, I wasn't exactly well versed in matters of relations but there was no way that friends we're supposed to be like this; if friendships we're supposed to be like this then I really gotta hand it to myself because this is just sad. I decided I heard enough.

"Alright, that's enou-"

"Shut it!" Pfft, seriously what a rude girl didn't even let me finish my sentence.

"I said that's enough, what gives you the right to even talk to her like that? Just cause your friends? Don't give me that bullshit, you're just taking out your frustrations unfairly on her." I shouted, it seemed as if that was the cue to leave for the rest of the class as they slowly filed out of the room all muttering excuses of suddenly needing to be somewhere else.

"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that you bitch? Seriously why are you butting in at all, it's not even your business."

"It became my business when you started spouting your verbal garbage all over the class for everyone to hear, seriously how rude can you be," I said shaking my head, it seemed like that shut her up real well as she stood there quivering and shaking with what could only be described as rage, I continued not giving her a second to speak "C'mon Yui you better get going, you don't wanna keep Yukino waiting."

Yui looked at me with a pleading look in her eyes. I sighed and shook my head again. Seriously, those eyes are so unfair, what am I supposed to do if you look at me like that. I started walking out of the class as Yui began talking to Yumiko again. Seriously this girl.

The rest of the day was uneventful.

End Ch.5 -《Hierarchy》

So another chapter ends! And an eventful one at that, the thing I really wanted to establish was Hikigaya's attitude and character. I'm hoping to get the next one out by around next week but before that, I need to get some stuff outta the way. First off I need a beta reader of sorts so if you're interested in reading some of my work before I release it shoot me a DM on discord my details are on my profile. The second is of course if you would like me to show off Zaimokuza's request, I'm unsure of writing it since I think it'll be uneventful but ultimately I'm still unsure. So if you'd like to see it let me know. I'll bake it into the Totsuka request chapter. I've also edited Chapters 1,2,3 again.

-GapMoe