“After getting that letter about your “special situation” I decided to go speak to the principal just to get a bit more information on how you’d be handled.”

“Just as we were leaving, we saw Ms. Oshiro doing the same with the same idea. So we stopped and talked for a bit and now here we are.”

Takanou adds while standing up. Hikigaya then raises his fist into the air with a frustrated look on his chibi face.

“Curse my mom’s sociable nature..!”

“Who knew we’d be neighbors?”

Hamasaki says with an excited look on her face, still sitting on the couch.

“That still doesn’t explain why you had to stay here…” Hikigaya pouts.

“What? Mommy can’t have friends of her own?”

“Not when it affects me.”

He says under his breath with attitude. Asami wraps her arm around Hikigaya’s neck again and starts strangling him, obviously upset at his response. Shiori watches as she notices how much more easily embarrassed Hikigaya is around his mom.

‘I didn’t realize anything could bother him.’ She thinks to herself.

“Alright, well it was really nice meeting y’all. And a pleasure meeting you, Shiori.”

She boops Shiori’s nose a bit and smiles at her.

“If you need us, you know where to find us.”

She winks at the family and heads out the door. Hikigaya awkwardly follows and waves a bit before leaving as well. Hamasaki walks around the couch and leans against the back of it with a smile on her face.

“Wow, Asami was so nice.”

“Yeah, we definitely need to have them over more often. What do you think, Shiori?”

Takanou asks. Shiori just looks at the door for a moment before turning around with a frustrated sigh.

“I think he’s a real headache.”

“Hey, what teenage boy isn’t? Am I right?”

Takanou laughs at his own joke, turning and looking at Hamasaki for reassurance that his joke was funny. She just smiles at him in a way that tries not to hurt his feelings. He droops a bit with a ‘right...’ Hamasaki then steps next to her daughter.

“You probably had a long first day huh? Why don’t you go rest a bit and I’ll start preparing dinner.”

She says with a loving tone as she pats Shiori on the head who smiles as thanks. 

Come the next day at school, during lunch, the group has found a nice place to hangout at. It’s a bench next to a tree just out from beneath the canopy for the other benches. Shiori sits on the ground leaning against the tree with her lunch she packed from home. Lucy, Chizuru, Ryuji and Hikigaya are sitting on the bench while Haru stands talking to them. 

“I’m telling you guys. You should totally start watching all the movies in chronological order. That’s the only real way to watch them.”

He puts his hand on his hips and stands confidently.

“I don’t know Haru. Killer robots? Race cars? It sounds a little all over the place.” Lucy says with a skeptical look.

“Yeah, I have a hard time watching something with a confusing plot.”

Chizuru adds. Haru gets a shocked and offended look.

“Confusing?! It’s not confusing! It just has deep lore but the animation is even better!”

Haru starts waving his arms around and talking with his body far more than he needs to, acting quite energetic and sporadic.

“There are so many scenes that are amazing! So much action, so much drama! There’s a whole world there waiting for you guys to explore!-”

He throws his arms up and his body back in exaggerated fashion but this action causes him to bump into a small boy who happens to be walking right behind him, holding the trash of his lunch. He knocks the boy down on the floor causing the trash to fall everywhere. The group perks up noticing this, getting concerned for the situation. Haru turns around quickly with concerned for the boy. The boy sits on the ground holding his head low just like he was a moment ago, looking at the trash around him.

“Oh I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you! Here, let me help you-”

Haru reaches his hand out to help the boy up but instead he slaps Haru’s hand away. Haru steps back a bit shocked by the action. The boy gets up and walks away swiftly, a frustrated look on his face. Haru stares at him as he leaves looking upset about what he had just done.

“It’s okay Haru. I’d be just as upset and embarrassed if I was knocked over too.”

Hikigaya says in an attempt to comfort him but it only makes Haru feel worse. He realizes this and starts thinking about what to say to fix it before Chizuru interrupts his stuttering by getting up and putting her hand on Haru’s back. He looks at her softly.

“You offered to help. That’s the best you can do. Try not to worry too much about it, okay?”

She smiles softly at him before she crouches down to start picking up the trash that was spilled. The other’s join in to help clean up the mess. As Haru cleans, he looks regretful of his action, still thinking about what he did.

Eventually the day ends and the group parts ways the same way they did the day before. Haru waves goodbye and starts walking by himself as the warm orange sky hangs over him. Haru smiles for a bit but after his friends leave, he lowers his head and frowns as he walks.

‘It was just an accident. No one was hurt. So why did he look so… sad?’

Haru thinks back to the moment when the boy fell on the ground and looks closer to his face. He notices tear marks around his eyes and on his cheeks. He had been crying before it even happened. Haru slaps his hands on his head, partly over his eyes, leaning his head up towards the sky in frustration.

“Ah and I just made it worse! Whatever he is going through, I just put the cherry on top.”

He drops his arms to his sides as he sighs.

“I need to find him so I can apologize.”

Focused in thought he didn’t realize someone was running towards him down the sidewalk. The person isn’t looking either and runs right into Haru. He falls on his butt from the impact of the collision.

Haru “Oof! Sorry, are you- Oh. It’s you!”

Haru looks up to see the boy from earlier that he knocked over. He still stands right in front of him, panting.

“Well I guess we’re even now huh? Haha!”

Haru says with an awkward laugh from the ground. The boy doesn’t react, still not looking him in the eyes. Haru then notices that he’s panting and covered in sweat. The upper buttons of his shirt are undone and his hair all ruffled but he’s still in his school uniform. Haru gets a concerned look.

“Are.. you okay?”

He asks gently. There’s a moment of silence but then the boy darts past him and keeps running. Haru turns quickly, watching him run off.

“Wait!- Why is he..? It might be best to leave it alone…”

Haru looks down and rubs the back of his head like he’s debating.

“Still… He looks way more familiar than I thought.. Even before I bumped into him earlier…”

Haru puts his finger and his thumb on his chin, holding it, thinking. He then looks up as a sound catches his attention. He sees three grown men running down the sidewalk across the street. He tenses up when he notices one of them holding a bat.

“Where did he go?”

“I think he went this way!”

The men shout to each other angrily. Haru watches as the men continue running down the sidewalk. Haru sighs in relief a bit, glad they didn’t acknowledge him. He turns and looks as they run down the street.

“They’re running the same direction that… he…”

He realizes they’re running the same way that the boy ran off to. He watches for a moment before his eyes grow wide with a terrified look. Without a second of hesitation, Haru starts sprinting after them, fear still across his face.

‘Oh crap! What am I doing?! I can’t fight them! But I’d never forgive myself if I let something bad happen to him!’

He thinks with a scared tone. As Haru runs after them he pulls out his phone and tries calling any of his friends. He calls Ryuji but he doesn’t pick up.

“Oh c’mon! The one time!”

He shouts angrily. He follows the same path the others went, off the sidewalk and down a hill through some trees and bushes. He then calls Hikigaya who picks up almost immediately.

“Hey man, what’s up-”

“Hiki! I need your help! Some bad looking guys are chasing after that kid! I need you to- WOAH!”

Haru trips over a thick tree root sticking out of the ground. Hikigaya calls out Haru’s name a few times before the call is disconnected. Haru tumbles hard down the short hill before landing on his stomach and chin on the dirt. He coughs a bit in pain before looking forward and realizing the three men had caught up to the boy and trapped him in an open grassy area surrounded by trees and woods with a fairly steep drop into a small river behind them. 

“Come on kid, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Just give us some of your family’s tech and we’ll be on our way.” 

“It’d really save us a lot of time.”

They pressure the boy, obviously trying to intimidate him.

“I told you guys, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

He shouts back. They get an irritated look on their faces as they begin to get closer to him. The boy cowers back a bit before they’re interrupted.

“Hey, you guys leave him alone!” 

Haru shouts as he stands up to them. They turn and look at him. His legs are shaking a bit and he sweats nervously.

‘Am I crazy?! What am I gonna do?!’ He thinks. “You heard him! He doesn’t know what you’re talking about so you guys should just go!”

He says through his shaky voice. He tries to look determined but he can’t control the fear he feels in his chest. The men stare at him, shocked and almost amused by him.

“It sounds to me like you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The boy looks at Haru, relieved that someone came to his aid. One of the guys turns and walks closer to Haru.

“You’re getting involved in things way over your head. So why don’t you get lost before you get hurt, punk!”

He looms over him despite Haru’s tall height, giving him a death glare trying to intimidate him. It works greatly as Haru has been terrified from the start, lowering his head trying to avoid eye contact with the man standing over him. Haru clenches his fist tightly, still shaking.

“I-I won’t! Not unless I get to leave with him!”

He points at the boy. The first guy, obviously a sort of leader, nods at the other standing in front of Haru. He smirks as he turns back to face Haru who tries to keep a determined look as he shakes more. The large man raises his fist in the air getting ready to strike Haru. 

“Way to play the hero kid. Now it’s time to snap back to reality.”

Haru closes his eyes tight, terrified, waiting for the strike… but it doesn’t come. When the man swings his arm down, he is suddenly falling face first to the floor, completely confused as to what’s happening before face planting into the dirt. Haru looks to his right and sees Shiori walking past him. He then looks down to see Hikigaya had swept the legs out from underneath the man. Hikigaya stands up in front of Haru as the man begins to push himself up from the ground angrily. Hikigaya then lifts his leg up and stomps the man’s head back into the dirt. He leans on his knee on the man’s head.

“Okay, which one of you ordered the full lesson in manners?”

He taunts. The other 2 men watch with shock in their eyes. Shiori steps forward.

“Let me guess. You guys are with that big gang a District over, looking to make a big score. Unfortunately that led you straight to me.”

She begins walking forward as one of the guys yells and runs at her swinging both of his arms up to bring down on her. Before he can do that, his jaw is struck with intense speed. His eyes shake in his head for a moment before stopping. He looks down at Shiori who has her arm across her body like she just threw a right hook. She smirks at him before his eyes roll back into his head and he falls on his back. She turns her back to the final guy holding the bat.

“Right on the jaw. Works every time.”

She gloats a bit to Hikigaya. The guy holding the bat clenches it hard in his fists, shaking, before deciding to fight. 

“You little punks! You’re ruining everything!”

He shouts, getting ready to swing at her. She turns around wide eyed for a moment before Hikigaya grabs her by the wrist and pulls her around. The guy then lands a heavy strike to the side of Hikigaya’s head, breaking the bat on impact. Everyone looks shocked for a second as Hikigaya stands there with his head cocked to the side a bit. He straightens up his neck and turns to look at the guy. The attack seemed to have no effect besides making him angry.

“You were gonna hit her with that?!”

The man drops the remnants of the bat and puts his hands up in defense, shaking and stepping back. Suddenly, the man goes flying through the trees, flipping through the air and lands in the river with a big swollen cheek, unconscious. Hikigaya’s fist steams and his eyes are all white being so mad. He huffs and straightens up.

“Good riddance.”

Haru and the boy both finally calm down, seeing that the situation has been fully handled. Shiori walks up to Hikigaya

“How’d you do that?”

“Trade secret.”

He puts his finger to his mouth and winks at her smugly. She rolls her eye and casually smiles a bit. Haru approaches the boy who is simply standing there dumbfounded, staring at the beaten men. 

“Are.. you okay?”

He asks gently as the boy looks at him and the others.

“You guys were amazing…”

Haru looks down a bit.

‘Even though I didn’t do anything…’ He thinks. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no. I’m okay. How did you guys find me?”

He asks, pleased but confused by the arrival. Hikigaya lifts his hand, motioning to Haru.

“Well, Haru here called me. So I came rushing.”

“I heard the commotion and followed.” 

Shiori says. The boy looks at Haru who notices and gets embarrassed. He blushes and rubs the back of his head while looking away.

“I saw them chasing you… I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing…”

The boy looks at him with shining eyes from tears forming in his eyes. He gives Haru a warm, grateful smile. 

“Thank you.”

Haru smiles back at him timidly. They all begin to walk back to the school along the same path as Hikigaya speaks.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Sugawara Ito.”

“What did those guys want with you?” Shiori asks.

“I’m not sure… They kept asking me questions about tech of some kind? Some stuff that belonged to my family? But I have no idea what they were talking about. Then they started pressuring me and when I saw the bat, I ran.” 

He answers genuinely and still a little shaken up by the whole thing.