Hikigaya's Route to Senior High Is Not Normal, As Expected

Eye to Eye

Hikigaya's Route to Senior High Is Not Normal, As I Expected

"I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm. I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction." – Saul Bellow

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Hachiman's POV

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The aftermath of what appeared to be among the scariest moments in Hachiman's life had passed.

Well... perhaps it wasn't the scariest moment in Hachiman's life...

"Yeah, I can name like two or three moments where I had been scared, alas, two of them were from when I was a child and teenager... So perhaps me being older has allowed me to be firmer and stronger." Hachiman thought.

He felt that his hands from where Manabu had struck him were still aching in pain. It wasn't enough to make him coil over and fall to the ground, as it was lessening, but a few more hits, even when Hachiman had blocked would've been enough to injure him to that point.

He was incredibly glad he knew how to effectively grapple and joint lock, else he would have been at a massive disadvantage.

Hachiman wasn't the best at fighting, but because of the training and conditions he was in with Aoki, he certainly had knowledge and a physical figure to utilize for such fights. But otherwise, Hachiman never liked fighting.

He never really liked intense activities, unless he had a purpose.

Hachiman thought back to the time he was in middle school, how he had swum two kilometers and was even given an athletic reward for being good at swimming. So much so they wanted him to try swimming professionally.

But Hachiman chose to deny and leave that behind because he had numerous external issues that nobody would want to help him through. Once they saw how messed up and chaotic his situation was, they would pull out and run away as always.

Then, there was the time in Junior High he had managed to perform on par with Hayama. Sure, there was a reason for this, albeit a stupid reason when Hachiman thought about it.

Throughout the entire course regarding everything, Hachiman could say that right now, his was the least chaotic time in his life. Being in a senior high school that prevented contact with the external world, it was a godsend for someone like Hachiman, who had to likely deal with the Yukinoshita family, something he wasn't willing to deal with once again.

Hachiman looked on as he and Manabu had agreed to meet at a later day, with the latest being 3 days later, by the end of the week.

As this occurred, Hachiman had simply gone back to his dorm to sleep. When he woke up, the day was as typical as he figured.

He had gone to class, and listening to Sae, Hachiman began to ponder specifically on the circumstances at which everything had brewed up. In specific, Hachiman remembered how Sae had thrown him under the bus when it came towards the private points matter.

Hachiman thus was also thinking of a way to get back to Sae.

However, he wasn't entirely sure how he could get back at her. A part of him wondered if it could be small and petty, like taking away her cigarettes to make her freak out, but he wasn't sure.

Regardless, Hachiman had to respect that Sae was a teacher, and thus she had a lot of levying power against him. Hachiman had to think critically about what to do.