344Don't Own Oregairu
Chapter 1: Shouko
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The train swished past before coming to a halt on the platform. Hikigaya Hachiman realised he still had a firm grip on her wrist and no doubt, the girl would appreciate him letting go of her, now that he had literally pulled her out of danger, stopped her from getting hit by the train. But he was in a bad mood, and he wasn't paying much attention and the girl looked kind of like an airhead. She had been leaning out and looking at the opposite direction, standing outside the yellow line on the platform. If he had been late by even a second, she would have been dead.
Hachiman gritted his teeth. "Are you blind!?"
The words were out of his lips before he spotted the hearing aid and immediately he dropped her hand, feeling guilty for what he said. The girl was around his age, probably heading back home from university like him. She had wavy brown hair, which stopped at her upper back and the bang at the front, fell to the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were hazel with a hint of green.
And she was deaf.
He should have been the one getting hit by the train, he thought.
The girl was looking at him, trembling, no doubt feeling afraid of his appearance. His dead fish eyes were unpleasant and he was a stranger to her, who had come up from behind and dragged her back. He was taller than her, she had a petite build and he had completely taken her unawares. She couldn't hear a thing, not the train, not him.
It must have been scary.
"I'm sorry."
Her hazel eyes widened.
Hachiman didn't know sign language. But he could take out his phone and type out a response. He did exactly that and bowed low while showing her the screen. At the moment he couldn't think of anything else.
There was a moment of silence and he realised that by then the train had left the platform. She was looking at him with a smile and a watery expression. It wasn't tears. But it was something else. He just didn't know what it was and it was rather difficult not knowing.
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Overtime, Hikigaya Hachiman would come to know her as Nishimiya Shouko. Then, on one occasion, he would recall their first meeting and ask her what she had thought of him, back then. He expected a response, but not the one she gave.
"You were the first to apologize."
Hikigaya Hachiman didn't say much. There was a plenty of things wrong with the world. But Nishimiya Shouko, smiled as she held up the response she typed on her phone and he wondered how he could ever call his problems, problems in the first place.
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A/N: Hello everyone! Happy New Year!
This fic can be read as a kinda sorta sequel to VSD etc, more in type, than in story really. Expect quick updates and a number of guest characters to appear. As for the next chapter, here are the options.
Option 1: Nishimiya Shouko (A Silent Voice)
Option 2: Toradora!
Please pick one.
Till then hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.
Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.
Won't betray your dreams.
