Chapter 6 - Apologies and Endings

First off, I want to apologize for how slow the story is going. I'm struggling with school at the moment as well with homework, so sorry. But glad to see you guys liked the last chapter.

I'm going to introduce Yukino and Yuigahama in this chapter so that Hikigaya still interacts with them. He's not going to break off contact, just a bit less than usual.

We've hit about 6000+ views for the story so far, so thanks to all of you who have read this! However, I checked the traffic graph and saw that the number of views was slowly going down with every chapter published. Oh well.

I'll keep on writing to finish this story, even though there may only be 1 viewer left at the end of it. I'm probably my own biggest fan, so that might be me…

Anyways, onwards to the next chapter.

"Hachi! Are you okay?"

Thanks for your concern, Megumi. Sadly, the answer to that question is no. If why, it absolutely, 100%, certainly has nothing to do with that TEACHER over there.

Of course, everyone has doubts in their life. Whether it may be the intentions behind an action or the facts that make up science, every single one us will eventually doubt something in our lives. Possibly quite frequently.

The definition of doubt is, by noun, a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. By verb, it is to feel uncertain, disbelieve or lack faith in something or someone.

"Hachi?"

"Hi, Ichiro-san."

Doubts can also range in intensity, which can cause monumental changes in the actions you do, if you choose to pursue any. For example, having doubts on whether you finished your homework would have a much lower effect than if your sister was going out with an ant. A certain one, to say the least.

"Hachiman?"

"K-Kawasaki, let's c-c down, okay?"

So as I glared at a modern Japanese literature teacher who was walking out of the class with a stack of worksheets in her hand, I had certain doubts about whether she was an actual teacher.

"She's not that bad of a teacher."

"Hikigaya…"

"W-wait, Kawasaki!"

For all I know, she could be a martial arts master masquerading as one, while her real life was completely opposite of the one she pretended to live. One of the only good things I could learn from her is how to correctly and quietly take an insect out of my sister's life.

"Hi-ki-ga-ya…"

Anyways, back to my earlier statements. Why did I feel this way? Why was I giving a lengthy monologue on the effects and intensity of doubt? Why was I doubting Hiratsuka-sensei in the first place about her status as a teacher? Simple.

She was forcing me to attend a wedding with her.

Hiratsuka-sensei was invited by her high school friend to attend her wedding. To add more salt to the wound, the groom was a rich, handsome bastard who was pretty far up in his company. Something about being on the 'board' or 'director' or something. Needless to say, I discovered this as I entered her office to hand in another essay to make up for the one I handed in about 'Changing yesterday'. The essay was the same, except I wrote about changing the day before, which was not yesterday.

Entering the office led me to find it in a mess, my teacher in a frenzy breaking every single object she could find, which included the essays. Noticing the open envelope on the table and catching a glimpse of the word 'wedding', I put two and two together and successfully deduced what had happened. Unfortunately, Hiratsuka-sensei saw me before I could conduct my grand escape, which led to me becoming captured.

"Hikigaya!"

"Y-yes Sensei?"

"Go with me to this wedding!"

"B-but I h-"

Sensei's knuckles stopped a millimetre short of my stomach.

"Sure, let's go. Anytime."

I'm sorry, Komachi, your Onii-chan is too much of a wimp to stand up against this teacher. I need to quickly level up my defence and build resistance to her martial arts! While I'm doing that, you should also strengthen your shield against that bug!

A pair of hands wrapped around my neck and I suddenly found myself unable to breathe. While Saki was strangling me to Valhalla, Megumi was struggling to pacify her as I could feel my vision turning black.

Meanwhile, all the other students were wondering what was happening next to my seat in the classroom.

"This is the second time you've almost killed me! In a span of three days! The first being at lunch two days ago!"

"Who was the one calling Taishi an insect?!"

"H-hey…" Thanks Megumi for trying to help us. But your pacifistic moves are ineffective right now.

"Oi! All of you, class is about to start!"

The sound of Hiratsuka-sensei's voice boomed around the classroom. People slowly walked back to their seats, taking out their material and books for the next lesson. I looked at Saki and slightly bowed my head "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Her face morphed into one of surprise, then softened. "Sorry, I'll go back now." With a small wave, she headed back to her seat.

Megumi waved her hand in front of my face, obstructing my view of Saki. "Hey, Hachi.", she asked in a worried tone, "Is your face alright?"

I touched the pale bruise that was on my cheek, wincing slightly at the pain. Hiratsuka-sensei's punches hurt a lot, but this was the first time I had to get a bandage. When Komachi asked me what was wrong, to avoid worrying her, I told her it was a bicycle accident.

Damn, you Sensei! Forcing myself to lie to Komachi was similar to violating the government law itself.

Sitting down, I resigned myself to listening to role-call, responding only when my name was called. Yuigahama arrived just before her name was called, so by technicality, she wasn't considered late. As attendance taking ended, the bell rang and Sensei walked out, only to have my fat, pudgy math teacher walk inside.

"Now class, please open your workbooks an…" Let's skip the boring class that I'm going to fail anyway. Actually, let's fast forward until lunchtime.

Brinngg!

"Ok, class, remember to hand in your assignment by Monday."

Woah, what? Isn't it still supposed to be math lesson? Then why is my English teacher leaving the class? Don't tell me I have the power to manipulate time? Was I actually a god after all? Then why do I succumb to Sensei's mysterious punches? Weird.

I got up my seat and headed towards Kawasaki, who was still sitting down. Behind me, I could hear the cheerful footsteps of Megumi. "Yo, Kawasaki."

Kawasaki looked up, surprised to see me. "Hi, Hachiman."

"Hi guys! Let's go eat lunch right now!", Megumi exclaimed a little too loudly, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the door. Ouch, show some restraint! Did they not teach you proper manners befitting of the high-class society?

"Umm.. H-Hikki…"

A fourth voice spoke up, directed straight at me, causing all three of us to look towards its origin. Upon seeing who it was, Megumi moved a little bit closer to me while Kawasaki tightly gripped onto her chopsticks.

Unlike the two of them, only I knew who 'Hikki' was without the need to turn around and look for that person. Also, only I knew of one person who would call me by a nickname, having heard it many times before. Strangely, I was hoping it wasn't who I thought it was, but my hopes were crushed like an ant underneath a boot when I saw her.

Yuigahama was standing there awkwardly, her hands behind her back and clearly uncomfortable at being the target of two suspicious gazes and one deadpan stare. Hey, you brought this on yourself.

She coughed before looking up into my eyes. "Hikki…", she began. I remained frozen, preparing for the words to come flowing out of her mouth. "Can we talk?"

Silence. The most obvious thing to say to another person if you and them have tension built between you two. To talk with others, to make them understand what you did, what they did. To come up with a solution and solve the problem, going back into the relationship you previously had with that person. As if it never happened in the first place and it was just another event through your stage of youth.

"Hachi's not going anywhere with you."

Megumi was the one to answer her, with Kawasaki nodding her head. Megumi then glanced at me with, her eyes worried. "Hachi, let's go. We need to eat lunch."

"It's fine. You guys go on ahead."

"Eh?"

"What?"

I didn't know why I said that. Maybe it was because of the fact that Yuigahama and I were no longer friends or close to each other. Just acquaintances, nothing more, maybe even less. There wasn't any reason to even refuse her offer, so no harm would be done.

Yuigahama looked a tiny bit relieved at overcoming an obstacle. "Ah, then can you come with me Hikki?", she asked, "I, umm…"

"Yuigahama, where are we going?", I asked bluntly. Going straight to the point will make this faster.

"Umm, yeah, right. H-Hikki…". Yuigahama headed straight for the door, so I naturally followed her. Glancing one last time behind me, I saw the perturbed expressions on their faces. I put my thumbs up to show that I was okay.

I followed Yuigahama, watching her small figure as she walked. Slowly, the surroundings became familiar and I recognised the path that we were taking. It was the one that led to the roof.

Reaching the roof, Yuigahama turned around to face me, her face showing signs of regret. She opened her mouth, but I knew what she was going to say. Her eyes, face, body posture… they all faintly indicated towards the one thing I knew she wanted to talk to me about alone. I turned my head and said, "I'm not joining the club. I'm not going to go back."

Yuigahama had tears welling up in the corner of her eyes, "Hikki, please, give me another chance! Give us another chance!"

"I can't and I won't.", I said bitterly. "Besides, it's for the better."

Yuigahama shook her head frantically. "Hikki, it's no-"

"I heard what you guys said!", I snapped back. "Everything! Was this why everytime I stepped through the doors, the atmosphere changed from joyful to sombre? Was this why you guys jubilantly talked about how bad I am? It's okay, I'm over the whole thing."

"Hikki-!"

"I need to go somewhere now. Bye." I didn't know why I made up that false excuse. Maybe it was because I didn't want to listen anymore to her words. As I walked away, I felt a hand grab the sleeve of my blazer. "Hikki! Please wait, let me explain my actions!", she cried.

"I need to go.", I stated, repeating the same words with a monotone tone.

"Please, I'm sorry!"

I paused to think. She was sorry for those words? The ones she said and meant every single one of them? Like a famous saying I once heard, 'Words can be dropped but not taken back.'

I grabbed her hand and pulled it off of me. Then, I turned around to face her directly. For a second, she looked hopeful, but her hopes were crushed by the next words that came out of my words.

"I don't need to hear you explain. I've heard enough." With that, I left her standing on the roof by herself.

"Hikki! Please!"

Her words fell on deaf ears.

Ichiro Megumi POV

I was waiting for Hachi along with Kawasaki. We were currently by the vending machine where he usually buys his MAX Coffee. Outside, I was probably sporting a calm and composed look, but I was secretly worried inside.

When that pink-haired girl, Yuigahama, as Hachi had called her, came to us, I was immediately wary of her. Out of all the three girls back in that room, she looked like she was the one who was most affected. She even called Hachi 'Hikki', which I'm guessing was her nickname for him.

That itself was very surprising, at least to me. Her words must have hurt him a lot since she was the closest one to him out of those three. I guess that even nice girls can be bad sometimes.

"Hey, where do you think he is?", I asked Kawasaki, who looked like she was engrossed in deep thinking.

"Kawasaki?", I asked curiously. She looked up, seeing me standing there. "What are you thinking about?"

She blushed and waved her hands in front of here, then dropped and sullenly said, "Nothing."

I had half a mind as to what she was thinking, but I didn't press the on the matter even further. She, just like me, was most likely also worried about Hachi. For the second time, I wondered what they were talking about. It's probably that girl, Yuigahama, asking Hachi to join the club. Either that, or she was greatly thanking him for leaving. Though I didn't believe in the latter option.

So that meant she wanted Hachi to join the club. But why? She basically hoped that he would leave or get kicked out, so asking him to join once he left wasn't reasonable.

Unless she wanted him to join under a false sense of remorsefulness, then use him like she did before. That I could believe since it seemed to be the most plausible option.

I bristled at the thought of Hachi accepting it. He wouldn't… would he? He seemed to be very close to those girls before he quit, so maybe he might just…

...No, Megumi, you're overthinking this. Hachi wouldn't accept, he would just reject the offer and move on…

..would he?

As I grew stressed over the matter, the sound of footsteps snapped me out of my thoughts. To be more specific, I recognised the walking style of the footsteps. Hachi was airing towards us, his face showing hints of annoyance. Kawasaki also recognised Hachi as well and was staring at him like I was.

Hachi eventually noticed us standing there. "Yo."

"Hi, Hachi!", I shouted, earning myself two annoyed glares.

"Could you please not be so loud?", Kawasaki muttered quietly. Pretending to not hear her, I ran towards Hachi, wrapping my arms around his. I reddened at noticing how warm he was and I relished it. Ahhhh, if only time could stop now…

"So how was it?", I asked cautiously. He looked at me with those eyes of his, those eyes that I fell in love with.

To him, I probably looked like a friend asking an innocent question, concerned about the other's wellbeing. Having grown up and forced to attend formal events and parties, I acted like how everyone and my family expected me to act. A rich, well-raised woman who would one day grow up and become a splitting image of my mother now, in both looks and personalities.

Right now, my heart was thumping with the thought of him saying 'yes', to go back to the club where he would once again be with those girls. I didn't want him to worry about my views and opinions on it, especially Kawasaki's as well.

However, I knew that no matter how hard I tried to put one up, he could easily see through it with his eyes, as if I was an open book for him to read. Of course, he was one to see through the facade's of others anyways.

"Fine.", he responded casually, "She asked me to join, but I refused her."

Both Kawasaki and I gave out audible sighs of relief. Hachi looked at me, then focused his gaze on her, observing both of us. "What happened?"

I smiled. "Nothing.", I said, "Just glad you didn't say 'yes'."

He snorted. "I don't have any reason to say that.", he stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If I did, they'd do the same thing again."

Kawasaki nodded. "Yeah, and I wouldn't bother giving them a good talking-to.", she said darkly.

At that moment, I detached myself from Kawasaki and fist-bumped her. "Don't worry, I'll support you all the way."

Hachi coughed, then raised his hand. "Er, there's no need to go so far.", he told us, nervousness lacing all his words.

Kawasaki and I immediately glowered at him. "You were saying something?"

"Yes, Hachiman, please speak up."

Faced with the true nature of two, wrathful girls, he took the most obvious option. "I think I'll buy some Max Coffee…"

After that episode, I suddenly remembered something. "Hachi, what's the time?", I asked urgently.

Hachi pulled out his phone from his left pocket. "It's 7 minutes until 12:20 pm.", he told me. "Why?"

Kawasaki realised what I was getting at. "Lunch."

Hachi looked surprised, then blinked. "I'll just eat after school."

Whatever he was expecting, it didn't include me grabbing his arm and pulling towards the cafeteria. "No, you're not.", I declared, "We're sharing my lunch." Yeah, I woke up extra early to prepare lunch for him. It wasn't because I liked him or anything, hehehe, we're just friends.

Although I secretly we could be more...

I was suddenly tugged towards the other side, almost falling over. After regaining my balance, I looked to see who it was. Kawasaki had grabbed Hachi's other hand and was pulling him towards the cafeteria. "Hachiman, let's go.", she told him, "We're getting lunch."

"Uh, sure- Ouch!", he yelped. "Stop dragging me like that."

As they were walking away, I could see Kawasaki give me a triumphant glance at me. I growled in anger. Quickly, I ran towards them and pulled Hachi into another direction.

"Ouch! What are you guys doing?"

"I have food for you, Hachi, and you're eating it."

"Oh no, you don't!"

While the two of us bickered, Hachi looked like he was having a huge headache. Well, in the end, it's your fault. How? Because it has to be.

A few minutes of lunch later, classes ending and the routinely ringing of the bell, the three of us went outside to go home. Kawasaki rushed away, something to do with a 'Keika' or 'dinner' or something. This left the two of us by ourselves. By two, I mean me and… well, take a guess.

As Hachi and I stood by the gates, watching people slowly trickle out of the building, I wondered if that girl, Yuigahama, was among them. A sudden thought struck my mind.

"Hey, Hachi, how do you know that girl?", I asked.

He looked at me incredulously. Seems like he knew who I was referring to. "You don't know Yuigahama?"

I shook my head. He sighed and rubbed his head.

"You know, Yuigahama Yui? The bubbly, energetic girl?"

"Nope."

"The one who's always around Hayama's clique?"

"No."

"The girl who came late on Wednesday?"

"Ohhh, her. Yeah, I remember now."

He looked at me blankly. "You don't, do you?"

"Hehe, well, no."

"Why don't you remember?"

As I recalled back to that day, I remembered myself constantly poking Hachi on the cheek. Come to think of it, his hair smel- Wait, Megumi! Stop! You can't have these thoughts right now, he's right in front of you!

I forced the memories to the back of my head, locking them away in the special part of my brain stored for such things. "I do remember her being part of the Service club, though."

Hachi nodded. "Yeah, she still is."

We stood in silence, until I remembered something. Again. "Hachi, you said she was part of that clique led by, what was his name again?"

"Hayama?"

Oh, him. That blonde, super cool kid. He was always trying to put on a false, first impression of himself everywhere. It was really annoying, seeing all the girls fawn over him. I mean, it's gotten very, very annoying. Before every party, mom would always talk about how I needed to make a good impression on him so that he would be attracted to me.

Sorry mom, I've already set my sights on someone and he's standing right here next to me.

"Yeah, him."

Comparing Hachi to Hayama, the latter wins in terms of popularity by a long shot. He has the looks, grades, smarts… everything a boy would aspire and envy. Hachi was the complete opposite. Alone, bottom of the ladder, creepy. I constantly heard the insults and gossip of Hachi, who wasn't in the slightest bit fazed by it. Hearing about it made my blood boil. I wanted to strangle those people that instant.

But did I have the right to do so?

"Oh look, it's Hikkifroggaya!"

"Hahaha!"

"Megumi?". I heard Hachi's concerned voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see his eyes showing legitimate worry. For a while, I imagined if he looked at his little sister like that.

I then registered a wetness on my face. A single tear had flowed down my cheek and onto my chin. I wiped it away and smiled brightly at him to ease his worries. "I'm fine."

I opened my eyes only to see his face quite near mine. A few seconds passed before we both realised what was happening. I quickly jumped back and looked somewhere else to clear my head of the thoughts that were flooding in. The sky, or-or the birds, think of something other than…!

"H-Hikigaya-kun?", a soft voice choked out. Hearing Hachi's last name, I looked around for the caller and saw Yukinoshita Yukino standing there. She was wide-eyed, staring at both me and him and I suspected the reason why.

"Did I interrupt something?", she asked. Before I could answer that she was, Hachi beat me first. "Nope, nothing."

Yukinoshita nodded, relief appearing in her eyes. "Then, could I talk to you for a second?"

Of course, she wasn't asking me. The look she had in her eyes were showing with the hope that he would talk with her. I half-hoped that he wouldn't talk to her, but knowing him, I had a feeling that he would. Unfortunately, that feeling was right.

"Ok.", Hachi said, "What?"

Yukinoshita's eyes darted around at the people exiting the building. Some of them already noticed us and were whispering behind their hands to each other. Literally. They had their hands up to cover their mouths and I could almost catch what they were saying. Sadly, their obnoxious voices weren't loud enough. 'Inside. Let's go."

She grabbed Hachi's wrist and I almost protested there and then. However, I knew it wouldn't do him any good and so I resigned myself to watching Yukinoshita pull a sputtering Hachi back into school.

By now, people had already noticed what was going on and were talking about it in loud and hushed voices.

'Hey, did you-?"

"...Yukinoshita-san…?"

"You think…?"

Some people were pulling out their phones and typing on them, presumably on texting their friends on what they witnessed. Tomorrow, I guessed that rumours and gossip would be flying around, varying in an assorted number of ways.

From what I heard, Yukinoshita was an extremely popular girl. She was basically a female version of Hayama without the social skills and friends. That was mostly due to her cold and unfriendly demeanour, which she never showed during events, especially around her mother. So running with Hachi would definitely sprout up some rumours which would inevitably spread.

One of the most irritating things I've ever experienced and will always hate is going to formal events. Boys would come up to talk to me, making laughable endeavours to try and court me. I would just smile and reject them politely, like how my mother taught me as I was growing up. Sometime, she would even berate me for turning them down unlike my dad, who would give me a thumbs-up whenever he saw a guy walking away from me with 'rejected' sprawled all over his face. Although, Yukinoshita Haruno would usually be their backup plan unless they already tried her.

I didn't need to do much to get a guy all over me. Just look and act well. Popular girls were like that, even Yukinoshita should know.

In the end, it's funny how I could try so hard to get one guy to notice me, yet he would remain oblivious and dense to my advances.

"Barriers don't work against Hikigermia, remember?"

"Look how lonely and pathetic he is!"

Of course, I ended up being one of his friends, his first one in fact. That gave me a superior advantage against Kawasaki, since I knew him longer than she had. To him, I was probably a nice girl, a kind one.

"Hikkikomori! Hahaha!"

I wasn't always like one.

So Yuigahama and Yukinoshita finally make an appearance! No Isshiki yet though.

You know what was one of my fears when writing this chapter? I mean, my fear may relate to other writers, but I wouldn't know. Maybe it's every writer's fear, no matter what they were writing.

It's writing a chapter, worrying if it will be the one that messes up the story.

I pretty much make up the chapter's as I go, so I never plan ahead. The only ways I plan are reading making up ideas as I write, possibly using some of them now or in the future. So that's why the quality may not be that good.

Also, the next chapter will come in a long time, possibly next, next week. I have to go for an extremely long camp, so I can't even write during that time. Anyways, did you guys like the ending of this chapter? Any questions raised up in your head?

It's time for 7 personal responses to your reviews:

OsteoPoro: Thanks man! But don't let my stories distract you from your studies.

Eyy: Thank you! I'm sorry for the repetitive Hikigaya and Megumi POV, but tell me what POVs you would like.

Anonmata: Yes, Megumi does have something she doesn't like. The drama is coming quite slow, but I will include at least two POVs of other characters next chapter that will further the story. Thanks for the long review!

Guest: Harsh and critical. I like it. Writing a fanfic like this, especially the one about Oregairu, is very taxing since you have to write about the psychological thoughts of others and their opinions as well. But thanks for the review!

OtakuTrunks: Sorry for the fact Yukinoshita appeared and left, having very little screen time. I plan to write about her soon, especially her POV, although it might be hard.

wildarms13: Thanks for your opinion on Hiratsuka's POV! It'll probably be a very rare POV since it's not centred around her. As for the club idea… sorry, only one club included, and that's the Service club.

TheDarkHollow: Thank you! I'm afraid the interaction here may not have been good or well-written, but nice to know what parts of this story are nice.

Reviews done, thank you all for reading this! This is not the ending, even though the title has the word 'ending' in it. See you later!