8man's Weekend Was Deeper Than Expected

Hachiman POV

In the end, Yui and I decided to go home and try not to dwell on the fact that Yukinoshita left without saying anything. The time is currently 12:55 AM, but no matter how how much fatigue I feel at the moment. I could not sleep for at least another two hours.

Yukino POV

The next morning, I woke up at about 8:00 AM out of habit. Looking around to remember what happened last night, I realized that I fell asleep on the couch in the living room. Stretching my cat arms and yawning, I decided that I might as well try to see what kind of place Hikigaya-kun lives in. I walked out of the living room and near the entrance. To the left of me is the front door and to the right is a single staircase that leads upwards to the second floor.

Before I could continue, I was interrupted by someone's voice. "Hey!"

I did not see any humans around. Instead, next to the staircase, I see a white cat with golden eyes.

"Did you just say something that I can comprehend, or am I imagining things?" I reply.

"That's right. I can speak to you. What are you anyway? What the hell is inside you [6]? You must be a human." I froze. "I can smell you. Whoever is inside that body is not a cat."

I can only imagine how strange this must seem: two cats having a drawn out contest of aggressive meowing. I blinked to make sure that the feline in front of me is not a hallucination. "My name is Yukino Yukinoshita. What is your name, again?"

"Fool! My name is Kamakura, and I am the master of this house. I have an idea. Why don't you join me and become my loyal subservient and knight? I shall grant you the title of Knight of Neko. Together, we will take over the world [7]!"

What? What the hell? Is this person, I mean cat, mentally disturbed? I don't want to take over the world!

"I will have to politely decline your strange offer."

Kamakura hissed a little. "Fool [8]! You could at least try to act like a normal cat who is defensive of their territory and rights!"

"Whatever. I don't like pushy people. Besides, if I was one of the main characters in a story where World War III happened, I would want to be one of the heroes who destroys corruption through peaceful means."

"Fool! Suit yourself."

Kamakura turned around and trudged down the hallway and into the dining room. What a weirdo.

I continued my tour of the house as I climbed up the stairs. To my right is the master bedroom. I turned to the left and walked down the hallway. One door is open a crack, and inside it is a sleeping Komachi. Maybe she is scared of the dark and needs light from the hallway.

The last two doors at the end of the hall must be a bathroom and Hikigaya-kun's bedroom.

I wonder what Hikigaya-kun plans to do this weekend.

. . . . . . .

I sat on the counter of in the kitchen and waited for someone to serve me breakfast, and much to my pleasure, Hikigaya-kun answered my prayers.

"Mew!"

He rubbed his eyes, stretched, and yawned. "What is it, Kuroko-chi [9]? Are you hungry?"

"Mew! Mew!"

Hikigaya-kun went over to a drawer and pulled out a bowl. He looked at me and said, "I've got something for you. Luckily, I remembered to buy it at the pet store last night while on the way home from Yukinoshita's."

Opening a cabinet, he pulled out a box of cat food. Lucky me! Thank you, Hikigaya-kun!

. . . . . . .

After breakfast, I followed Hikigaya-kun to his room. He was kind enough to let me lay on his bed. After brushing his teeth, I watched him enter the room and lay himself next to me, his arms behind his head as he gazed at the ceiling. As expected, he is bored.

He sighed and turned onto his side, gently petting me on my furry head.

"Mew!"

"What should we do, Kuro-chan? It's Saturday, and I want something to keep me occupied."

After several minutes of him petting me and my only response being my ability to purr, he sat up.

"Let's go watch TV. Maybe, we will find an interesting movie."

. . . . . . .

I sat next to him on the couch and stared at the TV. What is he going to put on? It better not be some stupid otaku film. The worst case scenario would be if he put on a science channel or a reality TV show. I will only tolerate it if there are cats involved in such a show!

Contrary to my expectations, he put on a western movie called 'Batman Begins'. Knowing Hikigaya-kun, he might not fully understand the story since his English is not the best, but I am sure that he will at least get the gist of what the characters are saying, right?

The story was actually very interesting. We watched in silence as Bruce Wayne trained with Ra'as Al Ghul in the mountains. The story only got more and more intriguing as I watched.

"Where are the other drugs going?!" Bruce Wayne, who made his debut as the Batman, screamed at the man hanging off of the rooftop by a cable.

As the scene ended, Hikigaya-kun paused the movie and turned towards me.

"Mew?"

"This is a very interesting film. I will be right back. I need a snack."

After a 10 minute break, Hikigaya-kun came back, holding a bag of popcorn. Komachi trailed behind him.

"Onii-chan, why didn't you tell me you were watching Batman Begins?! I love that movie!"

Hikigaya-kun raised an eyebrow at his little sister, who sat down on the opposite side of the couch. "Have you seen its sequels? I just read about them online, and they are supposedly very good."

Komachi shook her head. "No, I have not seen them."

Hikigaya-kun took the TV remote and went through the guide. "Both movies are going to run later tonight. If you want, I could record them."

Komachi smiled. "Of course! Let's watch them together!"

Hikigaya-kun nodded. Back to our regularly scheduled program, Hikigaya-kun pressed play as we continued watching the movie. Once in a while, he would eat a piece of his popcorn.

After finishing the movie, I waited anxiously to watch the next one. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a family that I could spend time with.

. . . . . . .

An hour after we ate our dinner, we began watching the sequel: "The Dark Knight". Hikigaya-kun was drinking a bottle of Dk Pepper [10].

As the movie progressed, I understood the basic premise of the film: it's about fighting monsters while trying not to become a monster yourself, kind of like war. In short, this film is about ethics. It's about the struggle between the use of Logos or Pathos, the use of logic or emotions. Where have I heard of this before? Sounds familiar...

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Said Harvey Dent. The movie continued and the scenes changed.

"Don't talk like you're one of them! You're not, even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out—like a leper. See, their morals, their "code"...it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you, when the chips are down, these—ah—"civilized people"? They'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve." Said The Joker.

That sounds exactly like something Hikigaya-kun would say! I shivered a little, feeling creeped out by how similar Bruce Wayne is to Hikigaya-kun. By now, I have inferred that both of them like to keep to themselves, sneak around so that nobody notices them, work alone, are self-sacrificial, and lie. What a coincidence.

Over two hours through the film, we must be getting close to the end. I yawned, feeling a little tired, but I forced myself to stay awake and pay attention to the film.

"Why is he running away, dad?" Commissioner Gordon's son asked as the police began chasing Batman.

"Because we need to chase him."

The boy looked confused. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we'll hunt him. Because he can take it, because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight."

The screen cut to black, and a few seconds later, the credits began rolling. I turned my head to the left to Hikigaya-kun. Unbeknownst to Komachi, I noticed a single tear roll down the right side of his face.

"That... That is now my favorite movie of all time," Hikigaya-kun stated.

Komachi nodded. "I agree. That was amazing."

"Mew!"

Hikigaya-kun quickly wiped the tear drop away and turned towards Komachi. "Let's take a 20 minute break before watching the final movie of the night. I'm going to exercise quickly."

Komachi nodded.

Ara. Hikigaya-kun is going to get off his lazy butt to exercise? This is unheard of.

Hachiman POV

As I began jogging around the neighborhood, I couldn't help but think. What have I been doing this entire time? If I am a monster in the eyes of other people, am I no different than The Joker? I am not a murderer, but in a way, I am. Let me explain. When I berated Sagami on the roof, I killed her pride, and Hayama shoved me against the wall, almost like I was under arrest. Is that really the kind of life that I want to live? Before, the old me would have been alright with it, but now that I have two people that I care about and feel like I can rely on, I am not so sure. What have you done to me, youth?!

But in all seriousness, I never again want to see Yukinoshita get mad at me for doing something that betrays her expectations of me, like how I did that night in the bamboo forest. Same goes for Yui, my first friend.

I went back home and stretched my legs as I put two more bags of popcorn into the microwave, one for Komachi and one for me. Headed back to the living room, I found Kuro-chan nibbling on a snack: tuna.

She looked up at me. "Mew!"

Unable to resist her adorable power, I leaned down and gently pet her. She purred, finished with her snack.

. . . . . . .

The time is 8:50 PM. We began watching the third and final movie in the trilogy: The Dark Knight Rises. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's wrong with you, Onii-chan? You have a creepy smirk on your face," Stated Komachi.

"Nothing. It's just that this first scene is like something out of an anime; the villain hijacks an airplane to kidnap someone."

Komachi simply shrugged. "I guess."

We turned our attention back to the movie. Eight years have gone by since the events of The Dark Knight, huh? And suddenly, Gotham is at peace with crime rates at an all-time low? I guess it shows that The Joker was right in a way. They cast Batman out and did not give him any credit for the fact that he was a stepping stone towards their goal of peace.

Once again, the movie only got more and more interesting as it progressed. Bane slowly took over the city, and even managed to subdue Bruce Wayne, going as far as to threaten to use a nuclear device on the people if anyone attempts to escape.

"You yourself fought the decadence of Gotham for years with all your strength, all your resources, all your moral authority. And the only victory you achieved was a lie. Now you understand Gotham is beyond saving, and must be allowed to die." Said the ghost of Ra'as Al Ghul.

I winced. It's almost as if this movie is calling out all the bullshit I put the Service Club through. As Miranda Tate said, suffering builds character, and that is exactly what happened to us.

The scene changed to Bruce Wayne doing sit-ups in the prison. He took the rope and climbed up the well-shaped prison, trying his best to escape, but he lost his footing and fell back down, the rope stopping his fall.

Disappointed, I sank back into my chair. You can do it, Bruce!

"Bruce... Why do we fall?" Said Bruce's father in his dreams.

He suddenly woke up from the strange dream. Talking to the other prisoners, an older man lectured him and said that he failed because his fear followed him due to the rope.

The music changed as well as the atmosphere to something a little more hopeful as well as suspenseful as Bruce began his second attempt at escaping the prison. Both Komachi and I were sitting at the edge of our seats at this point, hoping he succeeds. My knuckles were turning white from grasping onto the cushion underneath me.

"Deshi deshi basara basara. Deshi deshi basara basara." The other prisoners began chanting.

Bruce turned towards an older prisoner, who accompanied him as a doctor who took care of him. "What does that mean?

"Rise." The man responded.

As he walked up to the wall, a strong-looking prisoner offered him the rope, but he declined as he surveyed the wall, looking for the proper way to go up without the use of a rope. As he climbed, the chants from the prisoners grew louder and faster. He eventually stood on the lower of the two ledges at the midpoint. With his back against the wall, he slowly inched closer to the edge when a swarm of bats suddenly began flying near his head and upwards. Realizing how close he is to freedom, Bruce backed up as far as he could, ran forward, and jumped.

The music stopped, as well as my breath. The prisoners stopped chanting to see if he made it and he did. Bruce caught onto the higher ledge.

"YEAH!" Both Komachi and I simultaneously screamed along with the prisoners who cheered Bruce on. He climbed upwards using another rope, and escaped to freedom, heading back to fight for his enslaved city.

The good guys slowly began their counterattack, freeing their allies from Bane's clutches and organizing a force of policemen who are ready to fight. Batman and Catwoman stole back the nuclear bomb, and attaching the bomb to a cable wire, he flew it away from the city where it blew up at a safe distance.

My jaw dropped. No! He can't be dead!

The scene changed to that of a funeral, where Gotham Police Department Commissioner Gordon began giving a speech. "I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

Komachi and I began sobbing as Alfred stood in front of Bruce Wayne's grave. "I'm so sorry! I failed you. You trusted me, and I failed you."

As the movie began to end, they began dropping hints that Bruce Wayne did not die. The final scene cut off with Robin taking up the burden of being Batman.

"Wow." I said.

After sitting there for a few minutes, Komachi began speaking. "Onii-chan, between Yukino-chan and Yui-chan, which of them will you choose?"

"What?"

"Look, I know you can be oblivious, but you have to face this problem eventually."

I know exactly what she's talking about. The fact that Yui, and maybe even Yukinoshita, have feelings for me, is something that I did not even think about for a while.

"I... I don't know, Komachi. How could I possibly choose one of them? I don't want to hurt anyone."

Komachi sighed. "You no longer use the same methods that Bruce Wayne did, right? In the end, someone will have their heart broken now that you can focus on living a normal life."

Yukino POV

What are you saying, Komachi-san?! It's not like that, is it? What is this strange feeling that I have in my chest? It can't be...

I got up and trotted my way out of the living room.

"So, you're in love with Hachiman, eh?" Kamakura said.

"What?! No!"

"Sure... Keep telling yourself that. I don't know how love works for humans, but you should at least accept that you have fallen in love. Who knows. You might even transform back into your human form if you do," Kamakura teased.

"S-shut up! Idiot!"

To Be Continued

[6] Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood reference, my 2nd favorite anime

[7] Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion reference, my favorite anime

[8] Soul Eater reference

[9] Kuroko no Basuke reference, my favorite sports anime

[10] Steins;Gate reference