I listened to the reviews and decided to cut down looking at the Light Novel. I'll be honest, I was quite lost without it, since Hachiman is actually a hard character to write in my opinion. Hopefully this chapter will suffice as a make-up from the last. Oh and if someone was here to expect him to be some kind of god or something like that, no. Hachiman is Hachiman, the only thing he has is more tools to his disposal and a different interest. Super powers don't effect social situations, as much to the disbelieve of many. Besides, his character and personality is the number one reason why this show achieved such greatness. Taking that away or his flaws, would end up in a lackluster story. My writing isn't helping the story, I'm more then aware of my inabilities, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing. I'm doing this because I enjoy it and the first chap to fulfill a promise I made to someone to post a chap. I was lost on how to write his character and to write said story, so I grabbed the LN. Again, sorry that I did it, I'm trying to improve. But it was fair criticism so that is why I took it up.

After that conversation, we were allowed to go home. Things were getting kind of dangerous out there, so it might be for the better that we all left to take a rest and let things sink in. For me though, it wasn't just the whole competition that Sensei made. No, it was the fact that people were noticing my books. Normally this wouldn't be problem, humans are creatures bound to curiosity after all. I'm prove of that. No, the problem is that they wanted to see the insides of it.

This book is not really that special to me, but they are important to me. To them it would be special… or a lot of bogus. You see, in these books I found something, something that I longed for. It was one a very sunny day, with clouds in the horizon… No wait, that is going to take too long. It was my goal to forget the past and live in the time that is now.

Looking back at the past, makes people think about the good things, but also about the many bad things. They start to think on how they should have done instead of the things they did. When people think back, they have a lot of regret. Same with looking at the future. People fear the unknown and can't help fear their own future. By process of elimination, the time now is the best to be living in. I fully agree with that, so no bothering looking at the past.

Source: me

Well… I suppose we can learn from the past, something I did. Learning should be the only reason to actually look at the past. Sigh, I suppose I could stop reading those books at school, but truthfully I don't want to stop. The day that I was rejected, turned out better and worse than I expected.

You see, the day that the girl I liked in middle school rejected me, was the day I found this. With this I mean a place in a forest. It was a pretty large mansion in a forest. How I got there? I ran.

Flashback

I, Hikigaya Hachiman was rejected. Rejected by non-other than Kaori Orimoto. People found out almost instantly and they all came for me.

"Eeww Hiki-froggy confessed to Orimoto!"

"Ugh… what a loser. He can't get someone like her."

"He must have misunderstood her niceness!"

"He needs to be taught a lesson"

"Yeah, let's get him!"

A crowd of angry kids came after me. I remember being scared for my life, so I ran out of school with the mob behind me. I ran and ran through Chiba until I reached a part that was unknown to me. It was in a park with a lot of trees, and seeing the whole mob behind me, I ran into the small forest. Said small forest in the park was not very small, it was a giant forest with a lot trees. After what felt like hours of walking, I was officially lost. Tears prickled in my eyes as I thought that I was going to die.

"Why always me" I said to myself in a pathetic tone. Suddenly something was in front of me. I never even noticed such a huge thing in front of me. I was a bit skeptically at first, but I walked towards it anyway, thinking someone might be home. I looked inside and there weren't any lights on. Deciding to knock on the door anyways, the door went open, but nobody was inside.

I was scared. I entered a mansion that had no lights and just stepped inside. Maybe this is one of those real life horror movies settings or a haunted house SNAFU. As I stepped through the corridor, lights went on their own. It was weird, since this house looked like it wouldn't have any electricity running through it. Though it wasn't just the corridor that lit up, it was the whole house. I looked around, being as hopeful and scared that someone would come.

"Excuse me… Is someone there… Pardon the intrusion, but I kind of need some help…" I said timidly. I waited for a good five minutes, but nobody came. At this point I was getting real nervous, so like an idiot I stepped further into the house. I don't think that I would do well in horror movies.

As I stepped further, a voice spoke to me. "Hello there." It said. I won't lie, I almost pissed my pants the moment I heard the voice.

"Are you lost, because this mansion is quite far from the outside world." I was frozen in place, scared beyond and confused. What did he mean with outside world.

"You are probably questioning what I meant with that, but it's not too hard to figure out. I mean this mansion is quite well hidden." The voice spoke. It sounded like a pretty old man with a bit of an accent. Maybe it was someone from Europe or something.

"Um… Excuse me, but who are you… And where am I…" I stammered. I still hadn't moved a single step further into the mansion.

"Oh, sorry for my rudeness young one. My name Albert Illustria, the keeper of this mansion. Your location is the Illustria Mansion. We are somewhere in a forest, can I ask you which country and age this is?"

I was somewhat weirded out by the question, but decided to stay on the voice's good side. "This country is called Japan and the year we're living in is 2015." I steeled my nerves and decided to ask him why he asked this. "That was an odd question, why ask?"

The voice laughed, giving me weird vibes. It didn't help the whole thing with the mansion in a forest with an old man laughing from somewhere and a young boy inside who doesn't even know the man. Yeah, things we're looking great for me.

"Well, my child. It seems like a good amount of years past since someone entered this mansion. I knew that, but not how many. Lost count at the 150 years. You see, this mansion is special. It moves around the world, to look for certain people. People who are able to continue a certain line and add more to it. Seeing that you found this mansion, it is your turn to continue the line."

I was speechless. This guy sounded old, but he was never over the 150 and what was he talking about. A lineage that I would continue. It seemed like only time would tell how things would go. I stepped further into the house, thinking it was safe for me to enter. I mean, why wouldn't it be. This old man was telling me to continue some line, so not continuing would be hindering for the both of us.

"Sorry, I don't want to be rude, but I doubt that you are over 150 years old and that his house can move." I said, kind of expecting it to be joke.

"It is true, young one. This mansion moves around the world, looking for certain people. Sometimes it takes years for said person to find the mansion, but they always will… Why don't you walk ahead for a bit and take your first right to the kitchen. The food in there will be still good, because of the nature of the fridge. You look hungry and I would come to you if I could, but that would be sort of impossible."

I continued walking through the mansion, still very confused. What did he mean by that it would be impossible for him to come and get me? The mansion was well enough lit up for me to see, but it wasn't lit up enough to compare to a normal house with the lights on. I followed the voice's directions and entered a kitchen. "Say… what did you mean exactly by it would be impossible for you to come to me?" I asked. If this was true, then I might be safe from this old guy.

"Well my child, I don't have a physical appearance. To be honest, I'm most of the time just a voice. I'm not what you call exactly human. I'm a spirit. A spirit who came to be to give the forgotten." He said.

"What is there to give that is forgotten? It isn't forgotten if you know what it is." I asked skeptically. This was getting a bit too weird for me. I was almost tempted to run out of the house again. Almost. I was bound to this place by curiosity. But you know the saying, curiosity killed the cat.

The old voice laughed again. He seemed to be in a Jolly mood, for some reason. "I suppose that is true young one, I-"

"Hikigaya Hachiman." I said

"Pardon young one?" he said a bit confused.

"My name is Hikigaya Hachiman." I could almost feel him smile at my response, which was weird. I know I was a bit rude, but I didn't want to be called young one for the rest of the evening.

"Very well, Hachiman." Oi. Who gave you the right to call me by my given name? Never mind… "I wanted to say that you were right, but also not. You see, I do know the gift, but I'm the only one who knows it. I as a spirit don't actually count as a human being and most humans refuse to believe in spirits. Since no human being knows about this gift and they only refer to themselves when it comes to knowledge, it would count as forgotten, but you are not wrong. No, the fact you are taking this as well as you have been taking it, makes it clear that you are different from the others."

I thought about his words as I made my way to the fridge. Inside was an apple, which looked well enough to eat. I took it and ate it. "Different how?" I asked while munching on some apple. At this point I was somewhat more comfortable. I've gotten less scared and it turned into unsure from this point onwards. Besides, what had I to lose. My social life is dead from the events that happened today.

"Ahh yes, very different. Say, have you experienced something extreme emotionally today? It isn't normal for the new one to be so young when finding the Illustria mansion." He said with clear curiosity in his voice. Also can you stop reading my mind old man? Either he is a mind reader who makes up an excuse for knowing the answer, or he is secretly Sherlock Holmes.

"No I'm not spouting any shit, if you are thinking that I'm Sherlock Holmes." He says jokingly.

Alright, he is a mind reader then. "I'm not a mind reader either, my knowledge makes it easy to predict common people's thoughts." If I had the option, I would have pressed X to doubt the fact he isn't one. Like seriously, how long did he live to predict people this well? Besides, what is common to him. It is a very unspecific word, when you think about it. Someone 'normal' is a nonexistent creature. Everyone is strange in their own way.

"Well I did experience… umm… something today…" I said timidly, not liking the whole rejection. If I didn't get chased by a crowd, I would have probably locked myself in my safe space to take a breather and to never get out again to see those shadows ever again. "I got rejected after I confessed to someone and um… got pretty harshly shunned for it…" I said in shame.

"Ahh young love, or nonexistent young love I should say…" This man. Who's man is this? Someone get his man outta here. "Rude." I said being still hurt by the whole even. The old and jolly old man laughs "Well young one, going to be honest here with you. It happens to all of us. It's best to just let it go and continue on. Nobody gets better from sitting there in their past. I'm a living example of that." He says with a sagely tone. I was getting quite curious about the way he phrased it, but I let it slide for now.

I sniffed and nodded, I was still upset, but I felt better. I finished my apple and threw the part that was left of it in the thrash can. "Say Hachiman, are you interested in learning the forgotten. I mean you are already here. Maybe it was by fate that you got here so early or for some other reason." Albert shrugs.

At this point, I knew I didn't actually had much to lose, seeing as my social life was already over before it properly began. "I'm quite curious about what it is, so I'll take you up on that offer sir."

"Oh no please don't say sir, I'm just Albert. Sir makes me feel superior to people. I'm here to serve them and guide them, not to make them work for me."

"Alright then Albert, show me the way."

I can imagine him smiling right about now and was waiting for his instructions. If this happened any other day than this one, I would have ran away the moment he greeted me without actually seeing him.

"Very well Hachiman, leave the kitchen and walk over towards to the main room. The main room was straight ahead from where you entered." I followed his instructions and went back into the corridor and walked towards the main room. As I entered the main room I noticed one thing. It was huge. A multitude of couches, a big fireplace in the back with a round plate on it, a bar with more then enough alcohol to keep someone going for another millennium or something and more. Also there were a lot of paintings and other decoration. There was a big table in the middle and most of the furniture was made out of wood and soft cushions to sit on. It was quite pleasant and truly felt like a comfortable and warm living room, despite its size.

"To learn the secrets of this mansion and myself, you must go through hell and back to find it. It is written in stone that you were meant to be here, with that I will let you search the room for the answer of this mansion." He said with a strange tone. Was he trying to recreate a videogame dungeon? I mean I'm pretty good at riddles, so I suppose I can give this a go. It was one of my 76 skills after all.

I started looking around the room, since I had nothing better to do. He used a few strange words in his speech, with those two being going through hell and back and written in stone. There were a lot of things made out of a stone in that room, but also many things of wood. Hell and back was a questionable one though.

I started looking by going towards the bar. It had some stone base behind the bar, so I thought maybe something was written there or something. I did see something. It was a triangle in a left corner of a circle which was in a circle. It wasn't just a triangle, it looked like pyramid, since it had blocks carved into the triangle. an I made a mental note of it, since it was quite the strange thing to see that carved into the stone behind the bar. It wasn't big either, so it might have been a clue on what it was.

I started checking the fireplace next. I looked around the fireplace that held a fire that looked like it would never stop burning. It was an odd sight to see. I looked around it to find some text hidden behind the chimney. The text was another riddle it seems.

Shapes and circles make the unseen fit right in place. Because something has taken a certain shape, doesn't mean it is the only form it can take on. To make the unknown seen, you must know what the unknown is. A hand on your finishing product and the right solution makes your way come forth.

"Huh, interesting." I said to myself. I was starting to feel like those weird protagonists in those puzzle videogames that made short comments to nobody in particular whenever they found something. Now the question was what did it mean, was it literal or did it held a deeper meaning? My mind pondered over the new riddle, but I decided to let it rest for now. Besides I doubt that the pyramid was the only symbol I had to find.

I continued my search for symbols and checked every wall. There weren't any on the wall weirdly enough. You'd think that there would be one on the walls since they were also made out of stone. The paintings on the walls were beautiful by the way. I swear these could go for a lot of money on the market.

"A lot more then you are thinking of right now" Albert said reading my mind again. Oi, stop that!

They all had different shapes, most of the shapes did come back in another painting. Maybe a different size or another wall, but not a single one did not have another painting in the same shape, besides one. It was an unimpressive looking painting from far away. It was small and held a pretty simple image on it. It had some people on it near a windmill. The closer you looked at it, the more detailed it got. It was a nice image that somehow had made the place feel a bit more like a home. The shape of the painting was quite simple. It was a square. A perfect to honest square. I decided to remove the painting and on the wall was another shape carved into the wall. It was the same as the one from before, but this time it held a cuboid into the right corner of the circle that was in a circle.

Took another mental note of it and just went on with my search for more. I was thinking there were four, because of the shape it took right about now. I looked and looked around the room. The third and fourth one were difficult to find. There were two pedestals were placed near the doors of the room and some other stuff... Wait a second, those are made out of some kind of stone!

They pedestals had nothing on them, but they were there. I looked around them, but nothing. I couldn't find anything like a drawing or such on the two pedestals. There were also two small vases on the floor in the corner of the room. Both looked like they were porcelain. To be honest, the looked the same. I picked up the two and looked at them. Didn't see anything special, besides the fact that they were heavier than expected.

"Huh, you would think these two would have something to do with those pedestals. I mean they are quite small and heavy, but what would they have to do with those two." I said thinking out loud. I was getting pretty tired, so I placed the vase I was holding down onto the pedestal that was close to it. Suddenly the pedestal moved a bit down by the weight of the vase. I jumped back since I wasn't expecting it, until it hit me. Maybe those vases are the key for finding out the secrets of the pedestals, I thought to myself. I grabbed the other vase and placed it on top of the other pedestal. Like I logically deduced, the other also went down.

A small spot between the two pedestals opened up and revealed another symbol carved into some stone. This symbol was a 90o triangle which was placed at the bottom of the circle, in the middle.

"So, there are only three symbols after all…" I said. I mean I made up the four, so this one proved my rightfully wrong.

"Since you are so young and already reached this far, I'll give you a hint. There are four symbols… the one you didn't find was the most important one. It is also the only one that you actually need, those others are important for another reason." He said in a casual tone. You mean all of that was for nothing!

I kept looking further and further. I found a white crayon, which was on top of the table Why would a single one be there, I questioned. After what felt like hours, I almost gave up, until I looked around one more time and saw the round plate that was in the fireplace above the fire. I walked over to it and held my hand against it. It seems like it had dents in it. Lots of them, now I think about it. I ran with my fingers through the dents, which made out different shapes. No squares or triangles, but weird random looking ones. I did find one common shape in the whole plate and those were circles.

I had a strange feeling that this was it, however it didn't have any clear markings of what it was. That was until I looked at my hand. The hand that held a crayon in it. I drew and colored in every single dent that I could find, which took me roughly 20 minutes. It almost looked like one of those weird magic circles you see in those fantasy anime.

I did it, right? So why wouldn't something happen? I made the whole thing appear, so now what? It didn't look like it would do something. Now I think about it, what would some piece of crayon do? I had many questions until I remembered that there was a second riddle. I looked at the riddle again. "A hand on my finishing product, huh" I said out loud. I placed my hand on top of the lookalike magic circle and… nothing happened.

The hell…? This should have worked. Most video games would agree, even though people aren't always to know what they need to make appear in the room or something like that. Wait a second, what was the second part again? The right solution… but to what? What do they mean with something not having only one form… so many questions.

I walked back to one of the couches to sit back and think. Then I realized that I've been away for probably 4 hours or more. Doesn't matter if I ever get out of this forest or no, because I'm a dead man if my parents found me… yeah fun times.

What was the first thing Albert said? Something about hell… Oh yeah, through hell and back. What did he mean by that, because I didn't have to do anything that I truly considered hell… Sure this wild goose chase is annoying, but not something I would describe as hell… Maybe it's literal?

What do I think of when I hear hell? My social life. But in a literal sense it would be a low place with lots of fire…

I looked back at the fire place and the plate.

I think it is the fire place that needs changing, but into what? The three symbols I got earlier were a pyramid-looking triangle, a cuboid and a 90o triangle. Was the object made out of cuboids, since the blocks in the triangle took shape of cuboids, but what would the last one mean?

Go through hell and back, maybe the whole phrase was in a literal sense. Something that you can go through and go back on… it suddenly hit me.

I was in a mental discussion with myself to celebrate my great puzzle solving skills, or to facepalm that it took this long. I walked back to the fireplace and placed my hand on top of the plate. I silently said, thinking of a design what it would look like "A staircase."

The magic circle lookalike started glowing and in a white grey flash, the fireplace was now a staircase. I jumped back in shock that such a thing actually could happen, but got excited that I did it. So it was a magic circle after all! It was a downward staircase, with torches to lighten up my path downstairs. It was quite hot in there, but credit to were it was due. It was indeed a literal version of going through hell and back, because you can go up and down a staircase, and it was hot and filled with fire all the way through. The torches were far enough to not burn me, actually they didn't look like your ordinary flames either. They didn't give off any cinders or burn the wood they were on top off… weird.

As I continued my way down, I got there. It was a giant old school lab. There were vials, materials, machines and chemicals everywhere. There were also lots and lots of books downstairs, big old ones.

"Congratulations Hachiman, you are the first in the world to solve the riddle at such a young age. You seem to have a lot of potential!" The old man said in a jolly voice.

"So… what is this place? Some kind of lab?" I asked curiously. I mean this place looked amazing, but still…

"This, my young prodigy, is the alchemy laboratory."

Wait a second, did this old man say alchemy. So what I used today was alchemy?!

"Yes young one, you did." He said predicting my thoughts again.

"Alchemy is a study that died long ago. People relied on it at first, but in the end it became their downfall. People got hungry for knowledge, which was equivalent to power that time. Much more then now that is. In this war, a lot of people died, though the keeper of knowledge stayed around. I was said keeper, a man who died in the war, but remained because of a weird alchemy circle. To this day I do not know what that circle was… so instead of seeking for eternal rest, I decided to give the people who proved themselves worthy the knowledge of alchemy and you are the next one in line. So young one, do you accept the gift that is forgotten. The gift that is alchemy in its purest form."

I was completely baffled by all what happened, but I smiled with tears coming down. This might have been the greatest thing that ever happened to me. A thing that shows more then we actually see. To see the truth and potential in something minimum and always solvable with logic. A thing that won't lie to you, only something that you can do to yourself with this. Something genuine.

"I-I accept." I said loud and nervously. To be taught such a marvelous thing was beyond amazing, so of course I wouldn't decline.

The old man let out another laugh. "Well then young master… your training shall begin tomorrow. It's late now, so allow me to get you back home."

"How will you do that… Huh?!" I said as a reaction from shock. Why shock, because a circle thingie appeared under me. The material of the circle glowed in a rainbow color. "This my child, is manium. A special kind of stuff that is completely unknown to anyone who doesn't know alchemy, but to an alchemist it's worth shipped like a sacred treasure. It allows for rule bending in the rules for alchemy and makes things that look like magic possible. But anything what is done by this stuff, is done through clear thinking, logic and language." He said explaining what was going on. So this stuff is good and powerful, got it. Wait, isn't manium not just a rip-off name for mana?

"That is all for today then my young child, you must make your way here every day after school for your teachings plus homework." He said in a strict voice.

I gulped hard and nodded. "Yes sir." I said while saluting Albert.

"Good, now have plenty of rest Hachiman, because the next incoming years will be harsh for body and mind." He said while activating the circle under me. I couldn't help but swallow again, maybe this was a bad idea after all…

A white flash occurred and I was in my house. To be specific in my room. I was tired and didn't even bother getting out of my cloths and just jumped into bed. Next morning I had a lot of things to explain to Komachi, since my parents weren't there. Hell, I don't think they even noticed that I was gone anyway.

Flashback end

It seems as I made my way home during my flashback. Well that event happened years ago. I trained my body and my mind while studying alchemy. My progress has been good, but far from mastering it. Patience was key, but risking to let other people see what I'm studying, would be a giant risk. On the other hand, for me to stop reading at open places would be a colossal setback for how much time I can spend on learning alchemy. I don't get taught just alchemy, actually also a few school subjects and more, but at a much more efficient rate than any teacher would ever hope to achieve. I opened the door to my house and stepped inside. "I'm home." I said, announcing that I was home.

Komachi came towards me with a smile on her face, why was she so happy? "Welcome back home." She said smiling. Questioning her smile, I asked her what was going on. I swear to god if it is a boy. "Hey Komachi, why do you look so happy?" I asked in my regular bored tone.

She had a small pout on her face as she heard the tone of voice, but then got back to smiling. "Oh I just scored well on a test today, it was on japanese language. That is your best subject too, right onii-chan? Ohh… me remembering your best subject and welcoming you home so excitedly must have scored me a lot of Komachi points." She said with a playful smile. It's times like these that I question what I did to deserve such a cute sister… No I'm not a siscon.

Komachi and me ate some dinner and I continued my studies. Didn't want to stay too late up and decided to take it easy for tonight. I had this weird feeling that I was going to need it tomorrow. I also needed to rethink my strategy for studying in open places. At first I thought my only sworn enemy were the Riajuu, but it appears that misfits and other irregular people seem more interested in my book.

I sighed deeply, got out of my cloths besides my boxer and went back to bed. I could think this tomorrow through during class or…. Club… and I can still take my book with me for especially that last one anyways.

"God, what have I gotten myself into…." With that I fell into a deep slumber.

Chap two finished. Got I wrote this one fast in my opinion. I wanted punish myself for using the Light Novel heavily so I did it the only way I could. I made an OC, something which I must write myself without looking anywhere on the internet, because I literally can't. I want to say something to the people who reviewed this. Thank you. I want you to know that I was happy that people actually took their time to review my story and give feedback. I wanted to show them that I could do better and this chapter is not the Hachiman that we know today, but it was the Hachiman before we got to know the man that we know now. Yui will come next chap, no worries Yui fans. With that being said, for the people who want to review this, I'll gladly take up your advice. Though I can't always listen, in the end writing something is not a matter of good or bad. Sure some is better then the other, but it's in the end someone's opinion. I'll try to listen, but sometimes I will go my route, sorry if that sounds egoistic. With that being said. Cya peops!