Making Deals

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

"Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game." - Voltaire

…

Hachiman's POV

…

As the week went on and the midterm exams finally came close, with roughly half a week left before the fateful exams, Hachiman knew that he was at least functioning well regarding helping the "Idiot Trio," in their work.

While Hachiman wouldn't say they are suddenly academically smart, they still had their problems, Hachiman would say that they weren't the stupidest in the class by a long shot now.

Sudou especially, considering his improvements showed. For Hachiman, it was something he could ironically admit and relate to.

The motivation of a goal.

Many people, including Aoki and even Komachi would tell Hachiman that whenever he had a goal or something that made him work for something, he was among the most critical and determined individuals.

While Hachiman was never the one to speak on how he did things, even during Junior High, he hadn't changed, he still thought that it was the most efficient way necessary.

He didn't care about the possibility of it not working, he would make it work and it will.

Sure, what he was doing for the three boys was somewhat selfish, but it would ultimately benefit the others and make him seem a bit better in the eyes of some in the class.

Which always went back to the dilemma Hachiman was one.

He was selfish. And cynical.

That was who he was, and he would show it out, scars and everything if he needed.

Alas, he acknowledged that the school system wanted the classes to work together. That was what they were figuring out.

However, working along a large group was not Hachiman's thing. He was always alone, like a bear.

Foraging the harsh environment but living fine despite the scars he had sustained. In a sense, Hachiman never had anyone to truly lean on.

His parents? Borderline neutral to useless or even burden for Hachiman, especially considering the impact they had on his life even when he was separated from them.

Komachi? He had to care for. Even if she was his little sister, that was enough of a reason for Hachiman to care for her.

He had to. His big brother instincts would always function, and so he would do anything to see Komachi thrive.

Unfortunately, fate had different plans for Hachiman.

Even the friends he thought he made in Junior High; it all fell.

The black-haired girl who had a critical and icy look to everyone she bestowed and faced, Hachiman thought he had befriended her, or at the very least, had an understanding of.

The bubbly girl whom Hachiman knew, always being nice and the likes, Hachiman found a different part of her.

And the kouhai, Hachiman didn't want to begin with that one. She was basically Komachi but not giving Hachiman the big brother instincts to care for.

Instead, she was just a reminder of what he had lost.

Which was ironic because he had undergone more losses. All of them.

All because none of them understood him. They didn't understand how he did things, or how he functioned.

He was just a cynical individual in the eyes of them all. Someone to hate.

And Hachiman was completely fine with that.

If anything, that taught Hachiman a lesson further, to care for himself, and to only do things that would benefit him.

And so, that was when he became more rebellious. More irrational. More… enraged…

Hachiman wouldn't admit he truly regret what he did afterwards, but he felt that for his own emotional and mental benefit, it was worth it, for him.

Alas, that did leave the remaining aftermath, which Hachiman knew.

Sure, he had one true model who cared for him, but Hachiman only felt guilt and regret whenever he thought back to Aoki…

The one to show true compassion, and trained Hachiman to be the person he was best to be.

And in the end, Hachiman failed him on his part. He failed to protect what Aoki cared for, and for whom he loved…

He felt he deserved to be abandoned by Aoki… And that's what Hachiman did.

He ran, thinking he didn't deserve to be loved. He was just a cynical monster, and that was all. Instead, Aoki made it a goal to find Hachiman, to continue caring for him, and to continue ensuring he was fine.

After all, it was Aoki who wanted Hachiman to attend ANHS.

So now, Hachiman did it all for Aoki, hoping that someday he will repay Aoki what he had failed to do before.

And that was to care for himself.

The class would benefit from his actions, but they were second in comparison to Hachiman's own goals of self-respect and security.

Even if people hated him to the ground, if he had respect and security, they wouldn't do anything. Therefore, Hachiman knew what he was about to do was strictly out of his character maybe, but it was something people would do.

And in this environment, Hachiman had to do whatever was necessary to maintain his own life in this school.

He would not want to leave this school, and to face the outside world which had labeled him as a monster.

Just like an animal finding a perfect hibernating space. Nobody would want to be forced to move out before the winter was over.

For Hachiman, Senior High was the winter, and the inside was a den for Hachiman to hibernate.

He would not want to be pushed out in the middle of the winter.

And so, when Hachiman got to the outside of the building, it was rather late, and Hachiman had closed the library.

Shiina and Mei-Yu had decided to speak more to each other, leaving Hachiman to study alone with the three boys today.

As Hachiman was locking it up, he was approached by the woman he knew well. Nao Nagamine.

"Oh, Nagamine?" Hachiman tilted his head seeing his boss approaching him after he locked it up.

"Hello Hikigaya." Nao smiled, seeing that the coworker she had was working well.

Hachiman nodded in acknowledgement as he focused on observing what Nao wanted.

"Is there anything you need?" Hachiman asked Nao, clearly wondering why Nao had approached him at this hour.

"How about you take a small walk with me?" Nao proposed. Hachiman nodded. He didn't have to worry about Shiina as she had already gone up to the dorms with Mei-Yu.

As Hachiman slowly walked, behind from Nao. Hachiman waited as Nao led him towards a nearby chair. Eventually, Nao stopped as she turned to face Hachiman. Hachiman stopped walking as he waited for Nao to speak.

"As you've seen, I've allowed you to recently lock down the library a lot more often." Nao started. Hachiman observed and watched carefully, wondering what Nao was getting at.

"Yes, I am aware. This isn't usually part of the agreement you gave me." Hachiman nodded in agreement, waiting for what Nao had to say.

"You've pretty much been working more than what I've been expecting you to do." Nao explained as she looked on, "Usually, I would be the one to lock the library. Also, you've been working outside of your usually work part."

Hachiman looked on before he asked. "Am I in trouble?"

Nao shook her head, "Yes! You've been working too much, for someone like you."

Hachiman raised an eyebrow, "You stay in here most of the time."

Nao chuckled, "That is because I am working full time. You are supposed to be part time."

Hachiman hummed, as if realizing that was true. Hachiman looked on, a bit embarrassed in realization. "I guess that is supposed to be the case, however, it is something I don't mind."

"Perhaps this is fine, but even then, I would like for you to enjoy more time outside. To enjoy what it's like to be a student." Nao explained as Hachiman looked on, before shrugging.

"It's fine like I said, I don't usually have a life outside." Hachiman explained. All the while Nao sighed.

"Listen. I have a deal for you." Nao started, making Hachiman raise his head to focus on what Nao would say.

Hachiman nodded. "Go on…"

Nao nodded, "I'm willing to increase your pay to 180 private points per hour. However, I want you to lower the number of hours you work."

Hachiman pondered, before he thought critically. "Well, if I lower it by one hour for the weekdays, I can still get around a decent number of private points. Even then I will be an increase."

In the end, Hachiman decided to see if he could increase it.

"How about for 200 and I'll lower by work by 5 hours." Hachiman proposed. By that he would still get a substantial increase.

"If I just lower my hours worked by an hour for 5 days, I'll still be able to make around 16,000 private points a month, which is higher than before with 10,000, which I would have had to work more hours for. I guess this will work." Hachiman thought finally, as Nao nodded.

"You know what? Just because you have been working more, I'll allow it. If you don't work as late, or you enjoy more time out as a student, okay, Hikigaya?"

Hachiman turned to Nao, before he nodded slowly. "Okay…"

Nao smiled at Hachiman, "Thank you," She nodded as Hachiman watched her slowly walk away, back to the dorms.

Hachiman waited for a bit before he breathed out. All the while he had managed to at least guarantee that he would gain more private points.

He currently had around 82,000 private points, and thus he was doing well.

In the meantime, Hachiman waited until he spotted another person of interest. He had decided on another offer which he was waiting on.

And sure enough, the other individual was outside, which Hachiman had spotted. Eying the individual, Hachiman recognized the individual as Manabu Horikita.

Hachiman had anticipated such a meeting as he had been given three potential things that could happen regarding Manabu.

The first choice, which seemed to be based off Manabu's own selfish decision, was that he wanted to spar Hachiman in martial arts for a couple of times a week.

However, to make up for the extra decision, Hachiman would be given a higher number of private points.

When Hachiman asked the maximum number of private points, he would be willing to give, Hachiman was surprised when Manabu explicitly stated, a million or even more.

Hachiman hummed. The minimum was 750,000.

"Anywhere from 750,000 to 1,250,000 private points huh… Perhaps this is Horikita's way of testing me for potential. He will reward me higher amounts if I impress him… I see." Hachiman thought to himself.

If Hachiman was to refuse sparing with Manabu, he would get a middle ground, which seemed to be a rejection of attempting to be attacked by Manabu, and by that amount, there seemed to be around 600,000 private points.

As for the other options, Hachiman would gain around 250,000 to 300,000 private points if he gained a favour from Manabu.

In the end, Hachiman knew he had to focus on himself and the wellbeing of his own security.

Therefore, knowing what he was going to do next, Hachiman decided that perhaps accepting the highest offer would be worth it.

The lowest he could get is 750,000 private points, while he could gain potentially another 500,000 private points if Manabu was impressed.

But still, obtaining 750,000 private points was something amazing for Hachiman, and thus he had to accept, especially if only Manabu wanted to spar with him.

Coupled with Nao's proposal of Hachiman working less but with a higher pay, it was seemingly working fine for Hachiman.

Therefore, Hachiman knew that accepting the highest offer would be of the greatest benefit for Hachiman.

Manabu eventually spoke, "So, what is the proposal for everything?"

Hachiman responded accordingly. "I'll take the opportunity to spare you all the while eliminating the video and compensation for you attacking me."

Manabu nodded, "Very well, let us deal with this offer right away."

With that, Manabu first placed his phone over Hachiman's, causing a trade link to pop up. Hachiman raised an eyebrow at that functionality as he watched Manabu deliver Hachiman around 750,000 private points.

Accordingly, Manabu was now exempt from the attack he did onto Hachiman, and the video on Hachiman's phone regarding Manabu, his little sister, and Kiyotaka.

In the meantime, Hachiman watched as it accordingly was removed from his phone. Alas, Manabu had already given the private points as it was already secured onto Hachiman's account, and thus he was fine with it.

Of course, once Manabu had deleted the video, Hachiman had firmly taken his phone back, ensuring that Manabu didn't do anything else in the process.

All the while this occurred, Hachiman could tell that now he had more than enough private points. It worked well, as he now had around 832,000 private points.

A large-scale leap from what he thought he could make.

And that was not counting the 8000 private points he would get by the end of the week.

Regardless, he would help Hachiman a lot more when it comes to ensuring himself for everything.

While the interaction between Manabu and Hachiman was a lot less time consuming than when he was with Nao, it made sense considering Manabu was more serious and to the point.

For the time, Hachiman decided it would be best now to accept what was going on, and for now, leave it at that.

Hachiman made his way slowly to the dorm.

But to his surprise, he had found two girls just outside speaking in the building of the dorm. For Hachiman, he didn't think much of the people around him, but for these two, he seemed to recognize them.

It was Shiina and Mei-Yu, especially surprising considering the two had worked and studied together, while Hachiman focused on the three girls.

Shiina was the first to spot Hachiman and she immediately turned her body towards him, as she then walked towards him.

"Hiyori?" Hachiman asked in confusion.

Shiina nodded, "Hey Hikigaya."

"What are you doing out here? I thought you called it a night already and went to your dorm?" Hachiman asked.

Shiina gave a small smile, "Well, I was going to, but I decided after to wait for you."

Hachiman gave a confused look at that, but he was silently grateful for that, all the while he noticed Mei-Yu was also there.

Mei-Yu, placed both her hands together as her fingers touched her owns, as she seemed a bit nervous, "O-Oh, sorry… I just wanted to stick with Hiyori, so I decided to be outside with her."

Hachiman looked on, grateful that the two had each other at least when it came to being reliable and next to each other, at least for this occasion.

Hachiman nodded to Mei-Yu after a bit, "That is totally fine, how were both of your studying going?" he asked, maintaining a causal conversation with both.

Mei-Yu was the one to answer, "I-It was actually very good! Hiyori's such a smart girl…" She looked at Shiina nervously looking down. Shiina turned to Mei-Yu before shaking her head.

"It's not that I'm smart, I've just liked reading the stuff on it. I've never actually paid attention to the class, instead I just read what they give us." Shiina revealed to Mei-Yu, she then looked down, "I get in trouble a bit for not seeming to pay attention. Of course, that has changed, but back then I got in a bit of trouble." Shiina revealed.

Mei-Yu looked before she slowly placed a hand on Shiina's own. "You aren't a troublemaker. You seem very capable in your studies, so don't see yourself as a problem."

Shiina nodded, smiling a bit, "I know, but before I just, always felt I've been on autopilot. Just working because I must." Shiina explained. "It just, was going to work and then back to my dorm…" Shiina sighed, "Never really, something else to do… Sure, there were books from the library, but I just… felt nothing."

Mei-Yu looked on sadly, all the while Hachiman looked at Shiina with not much to say.

Shiina then turned to Hachiman, and smiled at him, "Until Hikigaya came."

Hachiman looked a bit surprised, even Mei-Yu did to an extent as she looked at the two, a bit flushed on her cheeks.

Hachiman finally spoke, "How exactly did I change everything?"

Shiina turned to Hachiman, "I thought I already told you. Seeing someone else loving to read books made me feel happy, because now that we are friends, we always can meet each other and speak and enjoy each other."

Mei-Yu's ears then turned red as the way Shiina had said that clearly came off the wrong way.

Hachiman too looked a bit shocked, as he looked away, feeling his face was a bit warm. In the end, he breathed out before he spoke.

"Hiyori means that simply put we can meet in the library and speak about books. Something we both enjoy." Hachiman clarified for Shiina, as he turned to face Shiina, but to his surprise, saw a smile on her face as her cheeks were also a bit red.

"What is going on with these two?" Hachiman asked himself.

Mei-Yu cleared her throat before smiling, "Well then, I'm glad you enjoy speaking to each other and are enjoying your time more." Mei-Yu smiled at the two. While she herself knew it was too early to call Hachiman a friend, she decided that the two were nice enough to befriend.

Regardless, Hachiman looked on while Shiina and Mei-Yu spoke.

It was eventually time however for them all to head up and sleep. Shiina was tired. Therefore, she decided to head up. However, Mei-Yu stopped Hachiman, wanting to speak to him as Shiina went up.

Shiina looked very confused, but nodded, "Very well, have a good night, Wang. Hikigaya." Shiina smiled directly at Hachiman as she said his name, before she took the elevator up.

That left Hachiman and Mei-Yu down on the ground floor of the dorm building. When Hachiman went to turn and ask what Mei-Yu wanted to ask him, he saw she looked a bit nervous.

"Is there something you need, Wang?" Hachiman asked at last.

Mei-Yu nodded, "Yes, it's about Hiyori…"

Hachiman raised an eyebrow at Mei-Yu little statement there as he slowly began to pay more attention to Mei-Yu.

…

So, Hachiman has gotten both a pay raise from Nao, and many private points from Manabu in the offer of sparing with him. That was the offer you all decided to choose, and thus now Hachiman will be busy and working in the meantime.

As for what is coming up, Volume 1 may be finished relatively soon by the comparisons of everything, maybe around Chapter 30? I'm entirely unsure, it depends on how fast I make everything. Otherwise, there's like, three major things I have left to happen regarding the midterm exam arc. Anyways, see you all later.