Hachiman POV

"The present isn't everything, but there are things you can only do now, things you can only find here. It's now or never. Think, writhe, struggle and agonize. If not, what you are going through isn't genuine."

It was these words of Hiratsuka-sensei that froze my world to standstill, everything in my vision turning to a grayscale with my body locking up. A cold, monotone voice echoed in my head as a shiver went down my spine.

'So this is what has become of us, huh... How pathetic, Hachiman, to think you forgot what we swore on that day.'

Pain started to emit from every part of my being as memories streamed into me, showing flashes of important moments in life of a boy that was also rejected by society for being different, but had a lions heart to roar and fight back, never giving ground to others that isolate him for something he can't control.

A crybaby boy that slowly turned into man who hid his dissociation behind a friendly and slightly playful façade. His weaknesses behind his strength, his scars behind lies, his emptiness behind his cheerfulness.

A man who fought and protected what is behind him.

Beaten, bruised, burnt and bleeding while standing surrounded by hills of corpses. Smiling to the sky with his eyes close, his back ramrod straight, slowly breathing to his last.

"Hee, this is my end? Can't complain much, maybe I'll reach the Throne of Heroes if it's real?"

"If not, at least, let me protect and cherish my loved ones while chasing the feeling of being understood..."

"Who knows, I can even pray for acceptance, no matter how much of a monster I am..."

My breathing was shallow and quick by the time I was aware of my surrounding, one hand holding onto the railing while massaging my head and messing my hair. Slowly processing what I just experienced, world seemed to colourful again, with a concerned Hiratsuka behind me.

"Oi, you alright, Hikigaya? What's wrong?"

A psychotic grin plastered my face I reached something that bordered on heavenly enlightenment, feeling whole as if an autocorrect filled in my life mottos and motives, making me chuckle and laugh as I my back straightens and feel my eyes burning with glee. The world seemed to make so much sense that I lost myself in euphoria.

Hiratsuka POV

As soon as I finished my cool shonen protagonist speech, I look to find my student looking like ran a full sprint marathon, supporting himself on a railing.

"Oi, you alright, Hikigaya? What's wrong?"

After that sentence left my mouth, he seemed like a man possessed, chuckling and laughing as he threw his head back. Even though I couldn't see his face, the laugh that emanated from him was so confusing and full of such feelings that I almost wondered who he is. Hollow, manic, broken, yet childish, gleeful and invigorating, as if a man in a desert who found not an oasis, but an undiscovered idyllic city. But what froze me wasn't the cold that we were continuously in, but his next words...

"Kakakaka! To think the answers were so close by! Haha, you're right sensei, I just had to think and suffer through my own words, but as I end up being this pathetic mess of a human, seems that I didn't! What I wanted was never being just genuine, but being understood, even on a superficial level..."

He turned around as those words echoed the empty street, throwing my mind for another loop as he looked so different. Ruffled mess of a hair, smirk that extends more to the right side of his face that shows his fangs and his radiant gray eyes with tinges of brown that make them seem like cats eyes, confidence showing through his body language, making him a wild bad boy. There is no way my troublesome student is this handsome!

Unknowing to me, he was already beside me and patting my head with a smug look on his face that had my fists twitching. His hand was messing up my hair, but still felt gentle. Why does it feel like he's comforting a kouhai?

"See something you like? Thanks for the lesson sensei, I know what I need now. Might as well give some advice to your 'problem'. Look for guys with a more girly or open-minded disposition, like Totsuka. You're too manly and too cool for regular men who hide their bruised egos behind their useless pride." He grabbed my finished cigarette and stomped it as he left for the car. "I'll wait for you here."

Hachiman POV

I chuckled internally as you could see the gears turning in her head, catching up to speed as she had a shocked, yet slightly blank look on her face. She started stomping the ground as she roughly entered the car and slammed the door, glaring at me.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hikigaya?!"

Honestly, don't look at me with that cute pout, you're just inviting for some teasing.

"Why Shizuka-chan, if I wasn't your student, I wouldn't mind being your lover. Or your fiancée for that matter." I leaned towards her and licked my lips for added effect. "You're perfectly in my strike zone, dear, would you entertain the thought of going on a date with me?"

Critical hit! She leaned back away from me, alarming red to her ears and sputtering in embarrassment. So she's quite innocent in private matters, file that info for later.

"Y-y-you! We are a teacher and a student! Don't get ahead of yourself, you shameless man!"

"Fufufu, so you actually considered it? You're too adorable, Shizuka-chan! Hahaha..."

She started the car, flustered as she probably cursed me under her breath. As I was ignored during the whole ride to my home, I contemplated everything that I know now.

My dream of being a househusband is a no go, my face needs some practice to change expressions, gotta check for some glasses to cover my eyes from unwanted attention, weak subjects need revision... Huh, so much work to do, but at least it's tolerable, it's for my sake after all.

We arrived near my house, not a soul in sight and barely any windows were alight. We sat there in silence until Hiratsuka gave me curt dismissal.

"Goodbye, Hikigaya."

"See ya tomorrow, sensei."

The epiphany of how I acted wasn't lost to me, even as she seemed in shock to my sudden change. I left quickly to not make the matter worse, walking and entering my quiet house to mull over what happened today. As I neared the kitchen, I could only think to only person who could relate to me right now.

'So even when we hide and play, we can't completely lie, huh, Haruno...'