My name is Hachiman Hikigaya, a second-year student in Class 2-F at Sōbu High School in Chiba City. Just your average high schooler well, that's not entirely accurate. After all, how many "average" students make it to their second year without having made a single friend?
So how exactly is this any different from middle school? Damn it.
Back then, I had genuinely high hopes. I even arrived an hour early on the day of the entrance ceremony.
But what greeted me wasn't some new beginning, but a week-long spiral of reflection over a dream vivid, surreal, and painfully realistic.
A dream where I viewed my high school life in third person.
But the events in that dream were never going to happen to someone like me. I, Hachiman Hikigaya, a proud and self-proclaimed loner, had no need for trivial things like friends.
Unlike ordinary people who get excluded from cliques and wallow in self-pity, I made the choice from the very beginning to cut off all human contact. By doing so, I ensured that I'd never experience heartbreak from misunderstandings or the awkward fallout of broken relationships.
That, in my eyes, was the ideal way for people to coexist by never getting close enough to hurt each other.
As for that part in the dream about getting married? Absolutely impossible. If I ever do get married, the bride would have to be Komachi. No question.
While I was lost in these thoughts, a sharp gust of wind suddenly pierced the air. Before I could react, a fist laced with Doppler-effect intensity slammed straight into my diaphragm.
"Guh-!"
With a groan of pain, my already hunched body curled in on itself even more. My knees buckled instinctively, trying to minimize the pain surging through my core.
With a sigh, Shizuka Hiratsuka-sensei brushed the loose strands of hair from her forehead and spoke in a tone laced with exasperation.
"What were you daydreaming about while I was talking to you? Those dead fish eyes of yours are getting worse."
I clutched my stomach and gasped shallowly, staring at the composed woman before me whose punch just now had nearly sent me to the afterlife. She looked completely unbothered, as if it hadn't even happened.
"I told you to write an essay reflecting on your high school life so far, didn't I? Most people would interpret that as a cue for self-reflection. But your submission reads like a pre-crime confession."
"Well, maybe if you'd clarified the prompt better, I would've written something more appropriate."
"Besides," I added, "isn't that just how high schoolers are these days? As long as they can hide behind the excuse of 'youth,' they think they can brush off whatever pain they've caused others."
"So what you're saying is, this is my fault?" Hiratsuka-sensei narrowed her eyes. "And let's not forget, Hachiman, you're still a loner. No clubs, no friends, no social interaction. Am I wrong?"
"I just don't like being too close to people, that's all."
"So, you're saying that you don't have any friends."
She tapped her cigarette on the edge of the desk thoughtfully before pulling out a cheap 100-yen lighter from her coat pocket.
The smoke curled in the air, softening her already sharp features. Her eyes looked even more glassy under the haze.
Seen from this angle, she really was a beautiful woman. But why did I hear she kept failing her marriage interviews?
"Hey! Are you thinking something rude right now?" she snapped suddenly.
"N-No, ma'am. You're imagining things."
"Is that so." With a long exhale that carried the heavy scent of tobacco, Hiratsuka-sensei crushed the cigarette into the already overflowing ashtray. Bracing herself on the chair's armrests, she slowly rose to her feet.
"I've decided on your punishment. Hachiman, you'll rewrite your essay. No objections, right?"
"Of course not."
If it's just rewriting an essay, that's easy. A few clicks online, and there'd be dozens of examples for me to copy.
"Great." Hiratsuka-sensei was already at the door when she turned and looked back at me. Then she uttered five words that would change my life forever.
"Come with me. Right now."
"Go… go where?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Don't ask so many questions. Just hurry up."
She's not planning to make me do some intense physical labor as punishment, right? Like helping a club move furniture or something? Maybe I should just claim I'm unfit for manual work.
"Uh… Hiratsuka-sensei…"
"What is it?"
"It's my back, you see… I've got this chronic condition… it's, uh, Hepes¹."
"You little brat. Do you want me to report you to the police for trying to sexually harass a teacher?"
"Wh-What?!"
"You meant hernia, didn't you?" she said, giving me a look usually reserved for seeing something like a cockroach.
"Relax. I'm not making you do anything physical. Just come with me already."
Following her through the school courtyard, I noticed it was as full of life as ever. The air practically reeked of teenage romance. Boys and girls mixed freely, eating lunch together. Some couples were even feeding each other.
God, could you guys be any more annoying? For the love of all that's holy, look at how pretty she is, and yet you still act like she's invisible?
The murderous aura around Hiratsuka-sensei was practically tangible. Was that Susanoo? Hey, wait… Sensei, your last name isn't secretly Uchiha, is it?
Annoyed by the atmosphere, she picked up the pace, forcing me to drop my delusions and jog to keep up.
"Here we are," she finally said, stopping in front of an unmarked, seemingly abandoned classroom door.
But the moment I saw it, my body went rigid. My face stiffened unnaturally under the weight of anxiety.
Oblivious to my reaction, Hiratsuka-sensei knocked on the door. Before anyone inside could respond, she pushed it open.
And there, under the soft light and gentle breeze, was a girl reading quietly. Her hands were slender and delicate. Her skin, fair as porcelain. Her neck graceful, her smile subtle, her eyes bright. Every feature was finely sculpted delicate, elegant, composed.
She gave off an air so serene that not even the end of the world could disturb her.
Sensing someone enter, she closed her paperback and turned her gaze to us, eyes slightly weary.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, I thought I asked you to knock before coming in."
"I did knock. You just didn't answer quickly enough."
"Whatever. What brings you here today?"
"Oh, nothing major. I just wanted you to help fix someone with an utterly rotten personality."
"Hachiman, what are you waiting for? Get in here."
At the sound of my name, the girl's hand trembled ever so slightly.
With a complex expression, I stepped into the room.
And in that moment, Hachiman Hikigaya and Yukino Yukinoshita met for the very first time.