Disclaimer: I do not own My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU or anything related to it. Heavily inspired 'Girls of the Wild's'

Chapter Rating: T

Ever since Father died, life has been rough for us…

"Hachiman! Komachi! I'm heading off to work!"

"Stay safe out there; try not to work so many hours, will you? You're not doing anyone any favors if you get sick."

"Oh, will you stop that; I'll be fine."

"Try to make it in time for dinner tonight, mom!"

"Come give mommy a hug before I go."

Yet we somehow made it through; together. In my experience, life has always been a war; everyone must fight to survive. If you give up, you die. It's as simple as that.

"Give me all your money!"

"P-please, this is all I have, I need to it for my children; have mercy."

"I'm not fucking around; give it all now!"

The strong trample over the weak. The privileged get to live over the less fortunate. Equality? What a fucking joke, society is based on a hierarchy. No matter how much you struggle, how hard you work, how much you dream; in the end…

"I'm… sorry son; your mother has been-"

"Don't fuck with me! Mother would never-!"

"Onii-chan; why is there so many men around? I'm scared..."

"You wouldn't happen to have any relatives, would you, son?"

In the end everything is meaningless, people don't receive equal chances in life. Those who're born in the streets die in the streets, those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, die by the very same spoon that fed them.

"Hahaha! What the hell is a slave like you going to do about it? Gonna cry to your mommy? Oh wait…"

"You bastard!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing with that?!

All my life I've struggled, no matter what. The weak have no place in this world; life is a war, and if you don't fight back…

"Don't fuck with us! Who the hell do you think you are swinging that thing around?!."

"Holy shit he's crazy!"

"Oi! You trying to fucking kill me or something?!"

You die.

"Komachi! Wake up, it's almost time for me to head out; you don't want to make me late on my first day right?"

Komachi walks out from under the blankets placed around her as she slowly stretches out from the floor; an impromptu cot made from an array of blankets and pillows. She reaches the kitchen where there is a small island available to eat on in the cramped room.

As she rubs her eyes, she answers, "okay… Okay. What's for breakfast?"

Hikigaya just gives her a sheepish look, "sorry, just eggs for today."

"Again?" The girl tones out sadly with a bit of annoyance. Her brother just gives her a stern look. "Right, right; I know, sorry. I should be grateful for what we have."

He just shakes his head, "it's alright, I know how hard you've got it, " and he places one plate of their meager breakfast to share between them, "how hard we both have it." He quickly adds on once he sees her guilty look.

Komachi simply toys with her food, seemingly uninterested, "something wrong?"

She looks up with the same guilty look a stray tear falling from her cheek, "how can you even say that? You're the only who's doing all the work, while I'm-"

"We've talked about this before." Her brother suddenly cuts her off with a stern look.

"But-"

"What're you going to do? You're not going to be able to get a job, you're too young. You want to go out in the streets and sell drugs like all these other street rats? You want me to come home and find your cold corpse in some random alleyway?"

The girl just looks down as more and more tears stream down her face, a few vivid memories of their mother flashing in her mind, "n-no… of course not."

He just sighs out and walks around the small island and gives her a comforting backrub, "you're all I have left Komachi, I know how guilty you feel, but just bear with it alright? Only one more year 'til you'll be able to legally get a job; until then just stay safe okay?"

Komachi just silently nods and turns around for a full embrace as her brother wraps both of his arms around her with trying as best as he could to comfort her, ignoring the silent tears seeping into his uniform; a brand new and well pressed blazer over a simple dress shirt and tie, with white accents.

As he feels his sister quiet sobs disperse, he separates himself from her, "why don't you go take a shower and get ready, then we can head out."

Komachi just simply nods in response; their breakfast completely forgotten.

"Thank you so much, Hasegawa-san; I'll make sure to pay you back; maybe I can get you some cat food from the convenience store?"

"Oh, no need," A woman in her late thirties waves Hikigaya's offer off, "you're a good kid, why not spend that money on a girl instead of an old woman like me?"

"Old? Why you're not old at all Hasegawa-san!" He simply answers with a laugh; the older woman joining in.

"I'll be waiting for you at home, Hachiman; make sure you stay safe okay?" Hikigaya just turns towards his sister and ruffles her hair.

"I would never forgive myself if I died before you did; probably come out of the grave just to kick my own ass."

This elicits a giggle from the younger girl, "well, I'll be off, thanks again Hasegawa-san, make sure she gets to school safely!"

"Don't worry, I will."

He simply nods before he continues his jog towards his destination.

Ever since mother died, it was up to me to take care of Komachi, the young man thinks to himself as he enjoys the breeze blowing through his uniform on his slight jog. That was a little over a year ago…

He stops his jog as he hits a railway crossing, the steady tone to signal all pedestrians that a train will be crossing soon. He steps in place a bit to keep his blood pumping, there were no relatives willing to take us in, and getting forced into foster care was something I did not want; Komachi was the only thing I had left, I wasn't taking the chances of getting separated from her; thankfully Chichi-ue took us in.

He continues his jog throughout the streets once the railroad block lifts up, as for the apartment, Mrs. Hasegawa was kind of enough to take pity on us and gave us a rundown shack of sorts, she was out landlord; I was just grateful for a roof over our heads. I hope I was caught up with all the payments.

As he continues his jog, he reaches into his schoolbag, of sorts, and pulls out a pamphlet and letter of recommendation. He slows his jog down into a brisk walk as he reads it over, "Sobu High? Full ride… Urban-suburban schooling enrichment program?"

"Watch out!" A voice suddenly calls out, breaking the young man from his reading as he looks up, to see a bike turn a corner at high speeds, but it was too late the biker instantly slides the bike on its side, derailing it in a hope to reduce the damage from a full head-on collision. Hikigaya quickly jumps over the sliding bike and rolling biker, but part of it's handlebar clips his leg and was forced into a rather harsh landing on his back.

He rolls over, still clutching the letter of recommendation in his hands, but the pamphlet as well as the directions to his new school scattered into the wind. He hears footsteps cautiously approach him, "hey… you okay?"

He looks up to see a peculiar sight, a girl with strawberry blond hair tied into a bun as she extends her hand out to him. He shakes his head a bit to gain his bearings and gracefully accepts the hand as the girl helps him up, "yeah… though I don't think going that fast on such a narrow sidewalk is exactly safe; ever heard of a bike lane?"

The girl instantly bristles and backs up a bit after hearing his indifferent voice and rather intimidating look, "r-right, totally my fault."

He just simply dusts himself off, a bit shaken up before a car pulls up beside them, rather a luxurious sedan with an expensive branding logo. He looks to it in surprise as he takes in the rather high class look of the whole vehicle, a definitive frown forming on his face.

The strong trample the weak. The privileged get to live over the less fortunate.

The driver sets it into park as he goes around and opens the door for another girl to step out. A graceful air surrounding her, hair black as night, yet a definitive sheen to it. "Oh, Yuigahama-san; seems like you did indeed beat me this time."

"Told you I would!" Yuigahama responds, "it is possible to beat a car going the speed limit."

The regal girl just softly laughs as she makes her way towards her friend, thanking her driver before it pulls out and drives along its merry way. Finally noticing the state of distress of her friend and the even more distressed bike, she just blankly looks to Yuigahama, "another one of your 'shortcuts'?"

"Ehehe…" Yuigahama laughs out timidly, "sort of?"

"Honestly… You don't even wear any protective gear either; what, ever shall I do?" She sighs out, "well, I guess we should bring it to the shop, again; I'll be happy to pay for it."

"Ehh~" The strawberry blonde haired girl whines out, "but Yukinon, you paid for it last time!"

"That is because it was my fault."

"And the time before that!"

"That was… also my fault."

"The time before that?"

"A… Testament of my good will."

"...the time before that."

"...a sign of friendship?"

"Yukinon!"

Hikigaya just shakes his head and makes his way towards the two girls, "sorry to interrupt-"

The regal girl instantly steps up and covers her friend in a defensive manner her eyes getting suspicious, and Hikigaya just looks at her strangely, raising his eyebrows, "-but I need directions to get to Sobu High? I'm kind of lost since…" He trails off and looks towards Yuigahama who just looks skyward.

Yukinoshita slowly drops her aggressive stance, "you're actually here." She simply responds as she points towards the gate. Hikigaya finally looks ahead and indeed saw a rather fancy looking gate gating a rather luxurious set of buildings. He turns back to Yukinoshita to thank her, but she cuts him off, "are you a student here?"

"A new one, yes; thank you for the help" He simply answers before making his way towards his destination.

"Hikigaya, Hachiman, is it?" A woman in a labcoat speaks out, a nameplate on her desk reading 'Shizuka Hiratsuka'. Hikigaya just nods his head in acknowledgement before the older woman speaks up again, glancing at him, "say; you got a pretty sturdy frame. You do any sports?"

Hikigaya looks up confused, "uh… no not really; soccer when I was a kid, but…?"

She just nods her head, "I see, well it's not important; I'm sure you know what kind of school this is, correct?"

"...'what kind of school'?" He mimics, "is this like some sort of private academy?" Hikigaya tries his best to answer, not really understanding.

The woman just shakes her head, "true, it is sort of a like a private academy; though our test scores are pretty low; one of the lowest in fact."

She suddenly takes out a cigarette and lights it, take a slow drag, "but we are known for other things; the best martial art clubs in the country are here at this school. More national champs have attended this school than any other."

"M-Martial arts?" Hikigaya asks confused. He's just received with a nod as a response, "says here you had some top notch grades; even if you went to a city district school. That's pretty impressive given the reputation of that area. 56% drop rate; yet you scored better than most national averages on your tests."

"I guess?" He answers, again, not really following the conversation.

The older woman takes another drag of her cigarette as her face gets serious and rather dark, the sun shining her in her eyes as shadows cover her face, "what's a kid like you living alone in one of the worst part of the cities doing around there? Even says you got expelled for a semester due to a violent fight; hospitalized a kid."

Hikigaya swallows nervously as he looks at her face, not really understanding why she seemed so hostile all of the sudden, "p-personal problems; of sorts."

Hiratsuka just narrows her eyes a bit more, "well; I'm not really up-to-date with all the political nonsense this school is trying to pull, I just want my students to succeed and be safe; says you got a full ride for your academic excellency, do you know about the urban-suburban program?"

"It's where schools specifically seek out students from within the city school districts to give him/her a place in their in own school correct? A socio-political move to gain the favor of the masses, most likely."

"Heh," Hiratsuka chuckles, "you're a smart kid; I like that. True there really is no benefit for doing this other than to 'look good'. What better way to gain favoritism than to get a kid who lives in one the worst parts of town a chance at a brighter future; expect some press and media to start hounding you. That being said; Sobu is still in desperate need of better test scores, and they, the board, seemed to like you out of most of our candidates. Whole 'dead parents' thing really tugs on a few heartstrings."

Hikigaya instantly bristles and doesn't notice a rather harsh and heated glare forming on his face. Hiratsuka drops her cigarette in surprise on her desk before she curses, stomping out the bud, sad to waste half of it. She turns back to Hikigaya with an apologetic look, "my bad; that probably was a bit insensitive of me; I'm sorry for-"

"I don't need your pity." Hikigaya seethes out, cutting her off. Again, Hiratsuka looks at him surprised with her mouth slightly open, before she goes back to smiling, "of course. Also says that you were adopted by an officer of the police department, Inugami-san was it?"

Hikigaya just nods his head, "I am eternally grateful to him and I decided to live alone with my sister as to not burden him; he just signed the papers and legally owns my living arrangements."

"And he was okay with that?"

"I… can be persuasive." Hikigaya answers honestly.

"Don't you think it'd be best to leave your sister with Inugami-san instead of with you? That really is a dangerous part of town you know."

Hikigaya looks surprised at her before composing himself, "that is true, it has come up; even though Chichi-ue has a heart of gold, he is a rather… eccentric man; not really one to settle down nor look after one, much less two, teenagers."

Hiratsuka just laughs out loud, "you're damn right he is! Never did want to settle down, that guy." She finishes a bit bitterly. Hikigaya just looks at her in question, "then are you-?"

"Unless you're about to take these old bones to start a family, I suggest you not finish that question." She cuts him off sweetly.

"But you don't look old at all."

"Oh, aren't you just the charmer? Looks can be deceiving kiddo."

The young man instantly bristles at the name, kiddo?! Who the hell is she calling a kid?

"I'll keep that in mind, onee-san."

Instantly a fist comes flying at Hikigaya's face before he's even able to react, missing mere inches from his face a gust of wind blowing his hair and uniform a bit, "don't try to patronize me; I'm not your damn friend, you will address me as 'sensei' or 'shisho', show some respect, brat."

His eyes go wide as he slowly nods his head, "o-of course… sensei."

"That's better."

"My name is Hikigaya, Hachiman, please take care of me." With that, the newest addition to Sobu High presents himself in front of his class as he goes and takes a seat.

The class went on without anything worth mentioning; the only thing that Hikigaya did pick up was the same girl who ran into him with a bike was in his class; Yuigahama, Yui if he recalled correctly. As he made his way to his seat, she discreetly made her eyes towards as he shambled towards the back of the classroom; he was indeed an intimidating presence, she thought, a rather tall and sturdy frame with the face and aura, years ahead of his current age. He didn't look old, no, it was more like he was weathered. His eyes were akin to stone; emotionless and cold, yet calculative.

As the bell signals for the end of class, all the students rush out in a flurry or go towards their friends to strike up some conversations. Everyone went about their business as Hikigaya slowly put his things away, and getting up once everyone cleared out.

"Oh, Hikigaya." Hiratsuka calls out, "come here for a sec."

The young man just obeys as he makes his way towards his teacher's desk, "you must know that the scholarship has some contingencies you need to fill, correct?"

He just nods, "I need an overall average of a 4.0 or above, can not fail any classes, and have to complete all three years of high school royalty to Sobu… Am I missing anything?"

She nods in affirmation, "yeah, that's all correct but you did forget one."

Hikigaya just looks to her in confusion, "and what might that be?"

"You have to be part of some sort of extracurricular activity; say like a club, or on the student council. Take your pick."

"But I don't even know any of the clubs, let alone my peers; wouldn't it be counter productive to force someone into a club so late into the school year? I also have a job; these living expenses won't pay for themselves."

Hiratsuka just sighs, "well that certainly is a problem; still, it is a contract of sorts. I'm sure I can make some arrangements for you to be exempt from full club hours, but I'll also need some effort on your end. Where do you work anyway?"

"Just a small car wash, not far from where I live."

She nods, "alright, well how about I introduce you to a club? I am its adviser after all."

"I don't see why not, though I can't stay more than two hours." He answers back.

Labored breathing can be heard throughout an open area; it seemed akin to a warehouse or large garage. The rough noises of padding and skin coming in contact with each other echoing throughout the open area.

"Hyaht!" A girl lets loose a solid mid kick to a punching bags, pulling her full weight into it, as it kicked back along the chained railing, the rattling of the metal sounding throughout the room as labored breathing follows it.

"That's a pretty solid kick there, Yukino-chan." A voice calls out the girl. She simply holds the bag in place to stop the rather obnoxious noise and turns to grab a damp towel off a chair, putting it around her neck as she takes a swig from her water bottle.

"The president of the boxing club, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Yukinoshita calls out.

"Can't I just check up on my friend?" The president calls out, a rather dashing smile appearing on his lips. Yukinoshita just rolls her eyes as she concentrates on the bag and delivers another swift kick, this time a spinning back turn kick, "haaht!"

As the bag settles once more she turns back to her guest; a rather tall young man with his uniform still on. He had sandy blonde hair that was messy in nature yet stylish. While on the taller side of the spectrum, he was rather skinny from the looks of it with his uniform on someone with a build meant for speed. "Why're you really here, Hayama-kun?"

He just sighs out, "all ways so serious, never one to beat around the bush, huh?"

She turns back to the bag, this time throwing loose jabs as she talks, "what the point in that?" She pants out, keeping her breathing steady, "those who're too afraid to speak their mind," she raises her voice with the last word as she finishes her string of jabs following with a powerful hook, rattling the bag once more as it moves a few inches, "have no place in this world!"

"Look, Yukino-chan-"

"Stop calling me that."

"-Yukinoshita, you're sister is worried about you; it's not exactly unknown that she is the current heir to the company, but she still thinks you should-"

"I know what she, father, and mother wants!" She yells out, delivering a roundhouse kick to the bag.

The boy just stays silent as he looks to his friend sadly, before he continues once the bag stops making its noise, "being cooped up in this abandoned shack isn't healthy, you are part of the Yukinoshita family, why are you spending so much time here?"

The regal girl just drops her stance and takes another swig of water, "that's rich coming from you." She comments as her eyes narrow. The boy just shakes his head, not giving a response due to him being unable to refute her statement, "at least go home once in awhile, okay? You're sister worries about you." And with that he makes his way towards the exit. As he looks back he sees his friend just look towards the floor with an unreadable expression as she gently lays one hand on the large punching bag, before resuming her training session, the pitter patter of skin hitting padding resuming once again.

"So what kind of club is this again?" Hikigaya asks out once he starts following his teacher through a series of corridors. He seemed to be getting rather anxious as they've been walking for quite some time and even seemed to of leave the main school building.

"Better for you to see rather than explain." She simply states.

As they continue walking they arrive to an abandoned building towards the back of school property; it seemed to be some type of fieldhouse, smaller than most and in rough shape. However it still functioned and even had running water and electricity, courtesy of the Yukinoshita Corporation.

"Oh! Hayama-kun, what brings you here?" Hiratsuka calls out. The blonde boy just gives her a smile, "just checking up on princess over there; you know how she and her family are."

Hiratsuka just nods as he continues walking off towards the main building, "maybe you can talk some sense into her, she's been staying behind longer and longer."

"No promises."

"No, of course not."

The original duo continue their trek towards the fieldhouse as Hayama leaves. They enter the building and Hikigaya was instantly assaulted with smell of sweat and mildew; a rather familiarly unpleasant smell if he were being completely honest. He glances around in wonder, taking in the big open area and the large ring matted area with a large circle imprinted onto it. Various training equipment scattered about. He looks ahead of him as he follows his teacher hearing a rather peculiar noise. As he makes his way further he sees a smaller girl doing various strings against a large punching bag. Her hair was was up in a ponytail and all she had on were compression shorts and a white tank top. Bandaged hands under open-fingered boxing gloves striking in rapid succession, sweat dripping from her face onto the floor while a slick layer of it gave of a sheen on her rather pale skin.

"Yo, Yukino-chan, working hard as ever I see." Hiratsuka calls out. Once the regal girl, though not looking so regal at the moment, hears Hiratsuka's voice she instantly stands at attention once the she stops the bag in place, turning towards her teacher with a deep bow, "S-Shisho; what brings you here?"

"Oh just checking out the competition." Hiratsuka calls back.

"Competition?" Yukinoshita asks.

The older woman instantly grabs Hikigaya's shoulder and brings him in front of her, "new student; needs a club to join, figured he could join yours."

Now on the spot, Hikigaya just looks frantically back and forth from the two women, "uhh… what kind of club is this exactly?"

"I'll have to politely decline." Yukinoshita answers, "there are no need for any new members."

Hiratsuka just shakes her head, "Yukino-chan, you're the only club member."

The response just elicits a blush onto the sole member as she looks away in embarrassment, "that is all we need."

"Yukinoshita, you know they will give away this property to another club if you don't increase your numbers soon; the taekwondo, boxing, and kendo club want to use this as a recreational facility for themselves. The only reason why they haven't kicked you out yet is because of your family name and the fact they there were the ones to get this place up and running again."

"I'm sorry," Hikigaya speaks up once again, "but, again, what kind of club is this?"

Hiratsuka turns to answer him, but Yukinoshita cuts her off. "The self-service club." She answers.

"I don't think that helps me at all, what does that even mean?"

Hiratsuka, again, just sighs, "like I said, Hikigaya; we hold a rather prestigious amount of martial arts clubs; many of our students who graduate go into professional fighting or even become part of the secret service or bodyguards. Of course there are those who just choose to continue their education at a university too."

Hearing about Sobu, Hikigaya remembers some rumors surrounding the rather infamous school,"Wait, weren't you guys in the news a while back?"

The older woman just rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "ahaha… Well, our kids can get pretty rowdy; on one of our school trips we ran into the Henaari family gang of Chiba and some of the more ballsy members tried to sexully assault one of our students. Unfortunately for them even twenty-three of their members didn't stand a chance against our students. It only took six of them; they were all girls from various clubs, not even the top fighters."

"Top fighters? Is there some sort of ranking system?"

This time Yukinoshita speaks up as she make her way towards the two, "towards the end of the year, in summer, we host an annual tournament here at Sobu; all schools are welcome to participate. As it is a school-sanctioned event, only students are allowed to enter and fight; it usually generate a large audience and even gets broadcast on national television. Some of the students become temporary celebrities, most of them getting large federal grants if they do well."

"So only students who participate are ranked?" Hikigaya asks.

"It's different for each school, I'm sure; as for us, we use a letter ranking system. In the main building there is a special arena with the same rules of the tourney apply. You can see many fights break out there as it is encouraged to spar against one another. You have to register, bringing proof you are student of our school. Once set up as an official contender of the 'crucible', you start of with the letter ranking of 'E', the more fights you win, the higher your rank becomes. Beating an opponent in a higher class than you let's you skip a few while the inverse applies to the higher ranked student. If you lose to a student a few letters below you, you may drop out from your current class; so most students try to avoid 'E' ranked students as they are the unknown." Hiratsuka answers.

"Why would anyone even want to achieve a higher rank? Wouldn't that just attract more attention to you? If you really wanted to win the tourney; it'd be best to lay low and surprise your opponents."

Yukinoshita just gives him a surprised look, "I'm impressed, that is certainly a logical way to think about it; however not everyone is in it just to win. The best part about it is to test your strength against others, we all enjoy a nice challenge every once in awhile."

"While others," Hiratsuka adds, "do it for the fame. The higher your rank, the more people are going to notice you. Girls, boys, clubs, other schools; maybe an influential person, who knows? You'll also have priority in the crucible, not to mention some clubs have a minimal rank in order to even apply."

"Alright, alright; I get the whole 'fight scene' and 'ranking' or whatever, but I still don't understand what kind of club this is."

"Like I said it is the-" Yukinoshia tries to start, but gets cut off from her teacher, "you're just going to confuse the kid, let me explain it," she sighs, as Yukinoshita just wordlessly nods, "since most disciplines of martial arts already have a club; this is more of a self-training club. Everyone is free to practice what they want and since we don't have a focused discipline we are considered a Mixed Martial Art; some call us the MMA club, but Yukino-chan likes to call it-"

"The self-service club," The regal girl finishes, "our main goal isn't to improve our fighting skills, or place in the top of the country; no, that is merely a by-product. We are here to help those lost find themselves, to help the weak and indecisive to become stronger and confident in themselves." She explains passionately, "those who refuse to struggle, succumb to despair and are always left behind." Finishing with a rather dark expression.

Life is a war; if you don't fight back… you die.

"That's all fine and dandy; hell I'll even give you points for the speech; but in essence you guys really don't know what kind of club this is, huh? Probably just use this as some sort of escape from reality, don't you? Maybe run away from your life problems?"

Both the women instantly falter and fall to the floor in shame, a depressing aura coming off of them, "s-so blunt…"

"Right on the money…" They both pathetically whine. Hikigaya just shakes his head, "ah, what the hell. Where do I sign up?"

"Wait, you actually want to join?" Yukinoshita picks herself off the floor. Hikigaya just shrugs his shoulders, "if you're accepting members, sure. I don't know any other clubs and I already know you and Hiratsuka-sensei; this is just the easiest and most efficient club to join, given my options. Better to learn one person than a club of thirty."

"That's the spirit Hikigaya!" Hiratsuka shouts out, slapping his back once she gets off of the floor as well.

Finally something clicks within the head of the Yukinoshita, as she notices his rather scuffed up uniform and a few tears in his pants. He really does look like a thug, she silently thinks to herself, "wait a minute; aren't you the boy who Yuigahama-san ran over?"

He just gives her an awkward smile, "yeah… that'd be me alright." Before continuing, "you said we're able to practice whatever we want right? Well sorry to break it to you, but I'm not really a fighter…"

Yukinoshita just sighs, "I don't suppose you'd show him the basics, Shisho?"

"Yeah right," Hiratsuka scoffs, "you were a pain in the ass to teach, not going through that again."

"No need," Hikigaya answers, "I have to get to work anyways, remember what we talked about Sensei? I won't even be in club much; so you don't have to worry about me."

"But-" Yukinoshita tries to speak.

"Oh right… Well I guess it can't be helped; but you are required to have at least one hour of club activities each day we meet in order keep your membership."

Hikigaya just nods, "fine by me, when do we meet?"

The older woman just gives a dark smile, "everyday."

"Hello, sir." Hikigaya calls out once he makes his way towards the car wash. An older man already hosing down a car just raises his cap and looks towards the voice, "oh, Hikigaya-kun, you're early today."

"Yeah, school let me out a bit early; I'll go get changed now." He was just received with a nod as a response and makes his way to change into his uniform. As he continues throughout the day going about his job of washing cars his mind wanders a bit. He finds his thoughts going back to his younger sister, I wonder if she got home safely? I hope she had enough to eat at school.

He begins to spray down a car as it gives him a tip on its way out, "thank you, sir! Please come again!"

Even if Sobu wasn't the type of school I had in mind; it beat my old school in the city. That place was a den of wolves; if you didn't find yourself a pack you were eaten alive and singled out; though If I quit school now I could work more hours and we'd be able to find a better place to live, but that also meant no future...

"Welcome sir!" Another car pulls up.

All I have to do it focus on my studies, then once I graduate I can start looking into more prestigious universities and finally get a degree and probably a decent paying job; at least enough for me and Komachi to get by, as well as pay back Chichi-ue. But that was still years ahead…

"Thank you, miss! Please come again!"

Still, a school renown for producing elite fighters? How was I going to fit into a school like that? No, no… we're not here to make friends, it's alright if we don't make ourselves known; better to be under the radar and just coast through the years. I got a full scholarship, so I don't really have any better options.

"Alright, Hikigaya, that's it for you for today, thanks for your hard work." The old man comes up to Hikigaya as he finishes hosing down a car.

"Of course, thank you sir."

The old man just nods as he waves him goodbye, "Take care of yourself, Hikigaya. Don't stay out on the streets too long."

Hikigaya finally makes his way back to his humble abode and silently enters; making sure to double check all the locks once he settles in. As soon as he enters he already sees Komachi fast asleep on the floor. He goes over to her just to check up on her and smiles once he sees her peaceful sleeping face. He heads to the bathroom to take a shower; finding it was easier to do so before the morning as Komachi usually did her routine during the morning; they couldn't afford to shower both night and day, much less everyday.

As he gets into his sleepwear he heads towards the kitchen as his stomach starts to rumble a bit. He opens the fridge to find it relatively empty and depressingly shuts it; he had to save what was left for breakfast and didn't want to wake his sister by cooking food. He goes to settle in beside his sister, sharing the large blanket; she stirs a bit before clinging to his frame for comfort, and he finally notices her rather puffy eyes. Had she been crying?

It'll get better… eventually.

He thinks to himself before drifting off into sleep.

Another writing exercise... of sorts. Taking my shot at something else besides first person and trying a story with a relatively dark undertone. Intended to be a story, but may be abandoned. Just needed to get it out of my head before it took it's toll on my muse.

Any feedback is much appreciated; hope you enjoyed yourselves.

This story has the lowest priory over my other stories; even 'Divulging Memories' which is supposed to be a one-shot, anyway.

Until next time,

-Ausko