Entrance Ceremony

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

"Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you." - Rumi

…

Kiyotaka's POV

…

"Everyone, can you guys listen to me for a bit?" The voice of a young man, a student raised his hand and spoke.

The individual who spoke had typical hair, that wasn't necessarily dyed, and looked like an honours student. Not a delinquent, far from it. If anything, he looked like the cover of a playboy.

"Starting from today, we will be in the same class for the next three years. So, I thought it would be great if all of us could introduce ourselves and become friends. We still have time until the entrance ceremony, so what do you think?"

Kiyotaka looked at the student a bit intrigued, "He said something amazing, and took initiative, so much so that other students couldn't find any words to say in response."

That was until the bubble girl spoke up, "I Agree! After all, we don't know each other names, let alone anything about each other!"

The girls' eyes quickly went to the black-haired girl next to Kiyotaka before she looked around the remaining of the class.

The student, the boy who started it all smiled, "My name is Yousuke Hirata. I was often called Yousuke in middle school, so you can all call me by my first name as well. I like a lot of sports, specifically soccer, and I also plan to join the soccer team. Please take care of me." He bowed to the class who all, especially the girls, gave a smile to him.

"You have a lot of guts, and even talked about soccer, with a refreshing expression. Your popularity has multiplied by what appears to be five times, especially with the girls, with some of them already having hearts in their eyes." Ayanokouji thought.

Yousuke would likely be a central figure for the class. He showed he was capable, athletic, and academically competent, something anyone in school appreciates. He will draw everyone's attention until we graduate.

Not to mention the likely power couple he would be involved with, pretty much any other girl In this class.

Almost immediately, another girl wanting to take the initiative tried to get up and made up her mind.

However, she was flustered and immediately had her words stop in her mouth. A small bit of snickering and giggles came from some of the girls from the classroom. However, she was encouraged as one of the girls slowly helped her go at her own pace. Not take your time, but go at your own pace.

That seemed to work, as the girl in question had a blue bowtie, alongside shoulder-length brown hair and violet eyes. She seemed average in height and build, but was clearly nervous as she spoke, "My name is Kokoro… Inogashira… My hobby, um, is sewing, and I'm good at knitting… Please take care of me…" She muttered, but at least besides the few times she stopped, she was smooth with her sentence.

With that help, Kokoro's introduction was fine.

Then, a boy with short brown hair and brown eyes, who seemed to be below average in height, with a bit of fat, got up.

"I'm Haruki Yamauchi. In elementary school, I played table tennis at the national level, then was the baseball club's ace in middle school. I had the uniform number 4. Bit since I got an injury during Inter High recently, I'm currently in rehab. Nice to meet all of you." Haruki chuckled as he sat down clearly thinking he did something with his statements.

The school he said he played for in middle school, was actually a high school. "I'm pretty sure you can't register and play as a middle schooler for a high school…"

Regardless, Kiyotaka chalked it up to Haruki making a joke or trying to hype himself up.

The next individual to speak up was a very cheerful girl who also helped Kokoro speak and introduce herself at her own pace.

This was also the same girl who helped the older woman on the bus earlier this morning.

"My name is Kikyou Kushida, and since none of my friends from middle school came to this school, I want to get to know everyone here, and become friends!" Kikyou smiled, but Kiyotaka could tell that for some reason, when her eyes went to the black-haired girl, it stayed on her a bit longer than a mere glance.

But Kikyou continued as her attention went back to the rest of the class. "I want to become friends with everyone here! After all of you are done with your introductions, please exchange contact information with me!"

She was definitely the type to open her heart immediately. She definitely would get along well with everyone. Her actions to Kokoro said it all.

"And also, during vacations or after school, I want to make memories with many people, so please invite me to many events! Anyways, I've been talking for a while, so I'll end my self-introduction here." She chuckled with a smile, which seemed to make many boys interested in her.

She seemed to be the female version of Yousuke, in that she would be a female lead to the class if necessary.

As for the girl in appearance, she was definitely seen as very attractive to boys. She was somewhat short, with short beige hair, and having crimson eyes and a very well-endowed figure, so much so Kiyotaka could assume that some of the attention she got was specifically for that reason.

While Kiyotaka began to think how he should introduce himself, a student in the class began to lash out.

This student was tall, athletic, and muscular. With short, bright, red hair, the boy had a clear look of a delinquent and his attitude matched that.

"Are you all idiots? I don't want to introduce myself, just leave me alone." The male spoke, as the red-haired boy glared at Yousuke.

"Well, I cannot force you to introduce yourself, but it would be a bad thing if you couldn't get along with your classmates. If you thought I was being unpleasant, then I apologize." Yousuke bowed to the red hair, as many of the girls glared at him.

"Is it wrong to do a self-introduction?"

The red-haired boy looked baffled, before he scowled and left, not without kicking his chair. Many other students took the opportunity to leave, as they didn't want to be apart of this. Among them was the black-haired girl whom Kiyotaka had already spoken to twice, getting off the bus, and when they first encountered each other in this very class.

While many of the girls began to reassure Yousuke he did nothing wrong, the introductions continued.

"Hi! I'm Kanji Ike. The things I like are girls, and the things I hate are ikemen. I'm looking for a girlfriend at any time, so nice to meet you! Also, you better be cute or beautiful!" A short male beamed, as Kiyotaka felt that like Haruka, Kanji was somewhat of a jokester and didn't take anything seriously.

Those two along with red head may likely be a troublemaker trio if he had to guess.

Eventually, Kiyotaka watched as Kanji continued to be teased.

The next individual was a boy with long blonde hair who only seemed very noble and impudent. Apparently, his name was Koenji Rokusuke, heir to a conglomerate and only introduced himself to the ladies rather than the whole class.

But Kiyotake moved on, as he was about to introduce himself next.

…

Hachiman's POV

…

To the mild surprise of Hachiman, he began to spot that some of the class from 1-D was moving out. After having that unsuccessful conversation with Hirats-, or… Sae, Hachiman had just decided it was best to leave the office.

He wasn't getting anywhere with such questions, and it seemed more likely that Hachiman would have to figure it out on his own.

Alas, Hachiman had already developed some sort of route towards getting the answers he needed. As he walked back thinking, he spotted an angered red-haired boy almost and comedically stomping out from the class.

Hachiman didn't bother. He just moved himself slightly so that he didn't bump into him. He knew those kinds of people where the slightest act could place them into a fit of rage.

Hachiman would even admit that, to a lesser extent, he was like that. Considering the environment he lived in, it wasn't surprising.

In the end, he heard everyone introducing themselves in Class 1-D, and immediately walked away, not bothering to want to speak to the class in such a way that made him seem like a normie.

Because he wasn't.

He was far from one.

Regardless, he also passed by the same black-haired lady who had argued with Kiyotaka before.

He had expected her to not say anything and just move past him, and he predicted right. He silently walked past some of the students from his class, before coming upon the door.

Almost immediately, he sighed and moved past, knowing that they were likely introducing themselves to the class. Hachiman wanted no part of that.

Looking at the time, he sighed reading it was only 10:30am. "Seems I have around half an hour before the entrance ceremony." Hachiman thought as he first decided to take the time to see what was going on with the second and third years.

Perhaps he could get some information from those classes. However, considering the time, it was probably not a good idea to interrupt the class. Then again, he was selfish.

Alas, he figured it likely had a month before it would be revealed. He just needed to make sure what he was told is true, no strings attached.

In the end, Hachiman walked around, noticing that not a lot of students from the other classes were outside.

"So only the students of Class 1-D are out… not the others. Class 1-A, 1-B, and even 1-C, their students have remained inside… Seems my initial thought was correct. Seems a lot of troublemakers in the eyes of society have ended up in Class 1-D." Hachiman sighed, "But that doesn't answer the root of my questions, especially with how this school works. There must be a reason it's like this."

Hachiman pondered as he almost walked into the wall of the school complex. Slightly moving by, he realized he had walked into the library.

"Huh… What a quiet place…" Hachiman commented. It was also a surprisingly large area, with seemingly an upstairs and downstairs floor. It was a very large library as he immediately began looking at the different books around.

He couldn't really stay around for too long due to the entrance ceremony. Regardless, Hachiman looked at spotted the neat placement of the books based on genre, its realism, topics, and the likes.

"But to have so many books in a library… Would 480 students ever be able to read it all and remember them all?" Hachiman asked. He felt like a kid, always asking questions, but it was the gateway to ensuring what he knew about the world was confident.

In the end, he spent a bit of time enjoying the calmness and quietness of the library before he left, knowing he had to attend the entrance exam.

Not much occurred, besides the fact that Hachiman could tell that some third years were here. No doubt members of some top student council or whatever the school has in place to give students some form of activity to maintain their reputation in school.

Hachiman didn't really care for those unless it would be a key to getting private points.

In the meantime, once the entrance exam was done, he picked up his stuff and left. It was only meant to be a half day today, so the first day was effectively finished.

He sighed as he found his room. He looked on, finding that he resided in Room 407. Getting in, he was mildly surprised to see that it was alright in size. Around the same size as his old room back in the dojo with Aoki.

Whilst he pondered, it had a security guard that was accessible through the green card that was accompanied with his student id card. Oddly enough, it also had an internal telephone line system.

Hachiman sighed as he took out his stuff and began to lay it down across the room.

The first thing Hachiman received was some books that Aoki had given him. Some were philosophical, some were Japanese, and others were more of biographies. Hachiman liked those kinds of books and thus immediately placed them on a nearby shelf as he decided it would be a nice place to keep books he rents or stuff.

Then, he picked up an old Gameboy and console he was gifted by Aoki for his fourteenth birthday. Hachiman's eyes widened. "He didn't forget to give me this… Why is he so kind to me…?" Hachiman asked himself, as he gently placed it in a small chamber of the desk he was given in his room.

The next was something that surprised Hachiman. It was both, his belt and uniform…

"He… sent them away from his dojo to keep me wearing it…?" Hachiman asked with shock. He gently picked up the black belt he had, alongside the white shirt and black pants he would usually wear.

Hachiman couldn't help but give a small smile, remembering the times Aoki would force him to participate in the martial arts. Hachiman could remember the time when he was first told to do so by Aoki.

Hachiman, wanting to be lazy, didn't want to participate, but Aoki had insisted, making sure he had participated. Furthermore, Hachiman slowly came to tolerate and enjoy it, as it made him feel he was paying back Aoki for the good he did to Hachiman. Aoki likely saw what was causing Hachiman a lot of mental strain and decided to not only take him in for a place to live, but also likely a student of the dojo. The least Hachiman could do was express his gratitude and give Aoki the joy of teaching another student, while also managing to help him overcome the worst of Hachiman's own demons.

While the pants were purely black, the shirt was white, with black stripes coming down from the sleeve where the biceps would be, and the collar. The one black stripe from the left side goes down to the right hip, where the belt would be tied around. Not to mention the yellow flowers that embedded the black stripes of the shirt, and on the stomach of the shirt laid a circular spiral with a rectangular red pendulum, with some text written on.

On Hachiman's black belt was a 2nd Dan, as he sighed. "Even if I was too lazy to do it, Aoki always found a way to make me perform and succeed…" Hachiman sighed as he gently placed them inside the closet of his room. Unbeknownst to him, he had accidentally kept his black belt in his hands, clutching it as if it were a stress ball.

Seeing some other smaller things related to the dojo, he decided to place it around. If anything, it also got Hachiman into numerous fighting games and gave him a hobby, something he could do for fun.

In the end, it was only noon by the time Hachiman had completed making his room feel comfortable for himself. Considering it was the end of the school day, Hachiman picked up some causal clothes, a light long sleeve black shirt and some pants, before he took off.

Considering the high amount of respect, admiration, and guilt he had for Aoki, he was tempted to find anything resembling a martial arts club in this school, but he also felt more complied to the library he had been in for a bit.

He could try both, but he did worry for time freedom.

But at the end of the day, he did owe Aoki his loyalty after everything the man did to save his life, and to make it better.

Hachiman looked on, locking his door as he walked out. He didn't want the guilt to hurt him, but he didn't want people to pity him. At the end of the day, Aoki proved to him he was worth Hachiman's respect. Sure, he didn't approve of his niceness and generosity, as he still thought the world was too cruel for nice people, but perhaps that was also what made Hachiman loyal and protective of Aoki…

He wanted to protect him, and to not fail him once again.

But the question for him remained, "Just how can I protect and make him proud when I don't see him?"

As Hachiman began to ponder on, his loyalty to him also hurt, considering the guilt that brewed whenever he thought of Aoki…

Hachiman sighed, as he tried to get his brain thinking straight. "Alright, before I wallop in my guilt, let me at least confront an older student here, and then I can decide what to do."

…

So, this is the OC part of Hachiman coming out. Hachiman in Oregairu is a lot lazier than this one here, mainly because of the events he had gone through, which only reinforces his core identity and cynicism. So, while I will stray away a bit from the typical Hachiman, if you feel he is too OC, let me know, and I can explain my goals with this half OC, half Hachiman. However, the only OC things for Hachiman will be his lack of laziness and his martial arts training which will be explained due to his different past.