425Don't Own Oregairu
Chapter 1: The Middle School, The High School
/Middle-School/
"Ori-Orimoto!" Hikigaya Hachiman stumbled over her name.
"Huh? Oh, Hikigaya? Did you need something?" Orimoto Kaori asked with a smile.
"Class is about to start, Orimoto." He replied.
"What? The bell rang already? I didn't hear it. Guess you can never tell how time passes so quickly when you are talking to your friends. Well then everyone, times up!" she was talking to her friends. "I better get going. You can thank Hikigaya here for keeping me in line."
None of them did, he didn't care, it seems Orimoto didn't either. They didn't know him. He was from another class. He had doubts about whether his own classmates knew him. Of course they knew her. She was popular, cute and beautiful and she talked to him while smiling. He didn't know why but he smiled at the thought and it must have come off as creepy because Orimoto was looking at him.
"Sorry, I wasn't smiling at you." He said holding both his hand up.
"Yeah, you were not smiling, you were smirking. I know the difference!" She said proudly, then moved closer and started poking him in the side with her elbow. "Did you think of something funny? Is it a joke? C'mon you can tell me, Hikigaya."
He felt hot at the touch even though it was playful. "No, there's no joke."
Orimoto pouted. "Boo! No fair! Mark my words, one of these days I will find out what you are always smiling about. I mean it's not like you are a comedian and you think I will steal your jokes or something. You should share what you think, what you find hilarious! It will make other people happy and they will like you more because you have a sense of humour."
"I don't have a sense of humour." he stated, voice dull. Girls liked boys who had a sense of humour. At least that's what he heard. He wasn't sure.
"Huh? That's not what I heard." She looked down both sides of the hallway then leaned forward as if she were sharing a secret. "I heard boys know a lot of dirty jokes and they laugh themselves silly when they go to the toilet. I think that's how it got the name toilet humour."
"Huh, I never thought about it." He learned something new today.
"Exactly!" She patted his shoulder a couple of times. "I know a lot of stuff. And I have a good sense of humour. That's why people like me so much. Don't you think?" Orimoto was all touch and feel and it didn't bother him because he knew she was…Orimoto and she was like this, no boundaries, no disgust. He wasn't Froggy-kun, he was plain Hikigaya to her and it was nice.
"Yeah, everyone likes you." Hachiman replied, voice sounding dull.
"Thanks, Hikigaya. You sure know what to say to make me feel better." Kaori smiled a bright smile and he blushed, couldn't help it. "Now we just need to work on your dialogue delivery. I mean what's the point in saying nice things if you say it in a voice which doesn't sound genuine." She held up a thumb of support. "You have to be genuine, okay!"
"I guess." Genuine, huh, Hachiman thought. Both of them were fourteen. What was genuine, he thought, but it didn't register much. He was young and moved to something else like focusing on walking with Orimoto Kaori. If she wanted him to be genuine then he will be genuine. "Okay, I will try."
"That's the spirit!" Orimoto beamed at him. "You are a nice guy Hikigaya, don't let anyone tell you different. Now all you need is a sense of humour and you will be set for life. Middle school is the time you know. It's important for us. It's the whatchamacallit-?"
"Formulative years." Hachiman offered.
"Yeah! That!" Orimoto snapped her fingers. "The formulative years. We have to make it or break it. Give it our all and be the best we can be. Make lots of friends and memories. We can't waste this opportunity you know."
Hachiman liked her positivity. It made him want…stuff. "I know what you mean."
Orimoto Kaori was a breath of sunshine. "I'm glad you do." Her smile was breathtaking. "And thanks for coming to take me back. I would have been late for class, otherwise. Speaking of which, I never see you late." She looked at his wrists. "Cool watch!"
Hachiman blushed. Kids saw time on phones, men wore watches. "Yeah, I bought it myself. It isn't much to look at, but it helps to keep time. It even has a stopwatch and alarm system, because it's digital and-"
Orimoto nodded. "I should get one for myself. I mean it's all fine and good, having you around to let me know stuff like when class is about to start and fetch me when I am talking to my friends in other sections, but I can't depend on you always."
"You can depend on me!"
Hachiman exclaimed. Fourteen and feeling…stuff, red in the face, walking down the hallway of their middle school with a nice girl who smiled at him and didn't find him disgusting.
Orimoto Kaori, fourteen herself, didn't know.
"I know, you dork. Ha-ha-ha."
/High-School/
"Huh? Hikigaya." She didn't expect to see him.
"Ori-Orimoto Kaori." He had a deeper voice.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"You are in the student council?" He asked in return.
Orimoto nodded. It had been a couple of years since she last saw him and now the two of them were in high school. He looked different but still the same. The most striking feature were his eyes though. They were not pretty to look at and he seemed to know that because he averted his eyes from her rather quickly.
"So you went to Kaihin Sogo High." He said simply and for some reason she thought he was making fun of her.
"Well, we can't all be smart. I see you got into Sobu High." She looked at the conference room where they were standing. They were both early. "And you are also in the student council of your school."
He shook his head. "I'm not a member of the student council."
Orimoto blinked. "Then what are you doing here?"
"I am here on the request of the student council president of our school." he stated, voice dull.
"Huh? Why's that?" Orimoto Kaori was curious. Puberty and two extra years and one rejected confession later and she knew it was none of her business. But he was being talkative and he didn't seem to hold their past, if you call it that, as a petty grudge. Most boys would do that, but Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't like most boys. "Are you some big shot or something?"
"No." A man of few words. Interesting.
"You seem taller." She didn't pat him because she knew better. Boys took small gestures and blew them out of proportions. She knew that now. Plus, he might react badly. They had hardly talked after that day…when she rejected him.
"Yeah, I guess." He looked at his watch, then looked at her. She got the distinct impression he didn't want to continue their conversation "You are also…taller."
"I am about average height." Kaori stated. They were talking about height of all things. She could do better."What about the student council president?" She asked, changing the topic. "What's he like?"
"He's a she." He replied.
Orimoto blinked. Huh. "You mean he's a guy who likes to be identified as a girl?"
Hachiman shook his head, hands waving in denial. "No! Of course not! She's a girl!"
"Yeah! But you said-" She was cut off.
"Her name is Isshiki Iroha. She's a first year." Hachiman stated quickly. "And she is a girl."
Orimoto Kaori was glad to end the misunderstanding. "I see you are still bad with your words."
Hachiman nodded. "I don't talk much."
Orimoto thought back to their middle school days. "I remember."
"…"
"…"
Hikigaya Hachiman and Kaori Orimoto thought about the same thing but now they were not fourteen and prone to act like kids. Seventeen should have been enough to know better. There was history, if you can call it that.
He had developed a crush on her back then and he had been stupid enough to act on his feelings without giving it a second thought. He had been rejected by her and though he didn't hold her responsible for his stupidity, he still remembered the hurt, the feeling of being crushed.
Hikigaya Hachiman knew better.
Orimoto Kaori didn't.
"You were the first guy who confessed to me."
Orimoto Kaori, seventeen, didn't have a boyfriend. But she thought she had a thing for guys with short dark hair as she found them attractive. Tall, dark and handsome and mysterious.
"I am sorry. I acted like an idiot."
Huh. This is the first time a guy apologized to her after she rejected his confession. Granted, it was years later, but still. Most guys just pretended to be okay with it or worse they took it as a massive blow to their ego and exploded, not capable to even believe that a girl would turn them down. They would pester her, ask over and over again, not get the message.
But not him. Even back then, when both of them were fourteen, he had taken the rejection to heart, but he didn't try to cause trouble for her later on. And now, when the both of them were seventeen, he was acting like a mature adult.
It was…not what she expected of him.
Hikigaya Hachiman was taller than her. He gave off a dark aura which made others wary of him. He did have a sort of handsome face. And then there was the case of not being in the student council and still being requested to be here on an important meeting.
That was mysterious enough.
A/N: First time writing a serious Hikigaya Hachiman x Orimoto Kaori fic!
Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.
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Won't betray your dreams.
-/-/-
