CH. 8 - How They Became Partners

Later that week, back at school, the bell rings, ending the first class of the day. The next class is physical education. The group all heads into the locker room to change into their p.e. uniforms. Due to being in the same class, they each got lockers close together. Haru smiles as he takes his shirt off and speaks.

“I heard that they finally got a permanent teacher for our class.”

“I hope they’re just as easy as the sub. Oh, how I enjoy walking laps and doing squats. So easy.” Lucy says, while doing the same as Haru. Chizuru and Sugawara giggle at Lucy’s laziness. Shiori puts on her shorts as she looks over at Ryuji changing shirts. She blushes as she watches in slow motion Ryuji pulls up his shirt showing his belly button and chest. She smiles, enjoying the view before Hikigaya snaps his fingers in front of her face.

“Hello, calling Shiori back down, please.” She quickly snaps out of it and continues putting on her uniform with an embarrassed look. “You know he’s going to notice you staring one of these days.”

“No, he won’t. Someone like him wouldn’t notice me..” She says softly as Hikigaya looks away with an almost disappointed look.

“How did I get stuck in the locker next to you, anyway?” Hikigaya asks, shifting the conversation. Shiori sighs as she continues changing.

“We’re stuck together, remember?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Hikigaya droops a bit. Haru laughs from just across a gap in the lockers.

“Haha! Yeah, that’s right! Main, you guys should’ve seen your faces when you got your numbers! It was priceless!”

They remember back to the first day P.E. started. Everyone was getting different numbers for their lockers. Hikigaya was excited, looking forward to maybe being put next to Chizuru or Ryuji, but once they got their numbers, Shiori and Hikigaya noticed they were right next to each other. They both had looks of dread and defeat. Shiori swings her hand around, wiping away the memory bubble.

“Yeah, yeah. We were there. Let’s just go.” She huffs as they finish up and head out. They go to where their class is designated on the field and line up in a few rows with the rest of the class. Suddenly they hear yelling.

“Alright, listen up! I’m your new and permanent trainer, Mr. Goda! But you lot will address me as Sir and nothing else! I’m here to whip you lazy teenagers into the best shape of your lives! Now I want to see sweat, I want to see drive and nothing less, understand? Now get out there and give me three laps around the track! Go!” The large muscular man in camo pants and a tight black shirt blows into his whistle hard as the class stands there, shocked.

‘Oh boy…’ Shiori thinks with a sweat drop. Before anyone moves, one of the boys of the class leans forward.

“Um, Mr. Sir. You’re, like, just supposed to be our p.e. teacher. Not some drill sergeant.”

Mr. Goda steps up to the boy and towers over him. He exhales deeply with pressed lips, causing steam to come out of his nose with a puff. 

“Son, you will know if I give you drills.”

“Yeah, that’s not what I mean- AHHHH!”

Mr. Goda then grabs the boy by the shirt with one arm and throws him into the sky, disappearing with a flash of light. The class looks in shock.

“Is that allowed?..” Sugawara asks under his breath. Mr. Goda turns to face the class. They all stiffen up.

“I only have one rule. If it pertains to physical education, do what I say when I say.” He speaks with a stern but much calmer tone now. He then catches the boy falling from the sky with his left arm. “Got it?”

The class salutes him. “Yes, sir!” They all say in unison.

“So what are you still doing here!? Move, move, move!” He begins shouting again as he claps at them, and they all take off running.

They make their way from the grassy field to the running track. As they run, Lucy whines about having to exercise and as Sugawara and Chizuru struggle to keep up. Ryuji and Haru jog with moderate effort, while Shiori jogs towards the front with seemingly no effort. As she goes, Hikigaya catches up to her and starts jogging next to her.

“You’re pretty fast.” He says.

“Thanks.”

They speak casually despite jogging at the same time. They keep pace in silence for a moment before Hikigaya leans closer to her, but doesn’t shift his gaze from looking straight ahead.

“Too bad I’m faster. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to talk you up to Mr. Goda while we wait for you.” He smirks at her and takes off running. She looks offended and picks up her pace. As she starts running, she eventually passes him, so he gets faster, too. Now competing, reaching an all-out sprint, they do their laps in almost an instant, leaving a massive dust cloud behind them. As they sprint, they eventually charge back to Mr. Goda.

He stands there with a stopwatch in hand waiting for the first of the students to come back, not expecting anyone to be back at least for another 5 minutes. To his surprise, he turns to see Shiori and Hikigaya angrily racing each other towards him at breakneck speeds, almost knocking each other over. He freaks out as they dive at him yelling his name.

“MR. GODA!!” They both shout and dive, landing on their faces, sliding across the grass to his feet. They both shoot up at the same time, panting.

“*pant* Mr. Goda… pant I was first!” They say at the same time. He has a look of surprise before smiling a bit and sighing. 

“I can see why you two are the special case.” They both stare for a second, shocked by his words, as they catch their breath. Mr. Goda straightens up and smiles at them with his eyebrows narrowed. “Regardless. Did the both of you actually run the full 3 laps like I said?”

They nod.

“Wow, that’s… that’s incredibly impressive. Have either of you thought about joining a sports team?”

Shiori rolls her eye as she walks to a fence post just next to them.

“Nope, and I’m not gonna. Let me know when the rest of the class makes it back.” She closes her eye as she slides down the post, sitting on the ground leaning against it. Hikigaya shrugs at Mr. Goda, who just smiles and shakes his head.

Eventually, the rest of the class returns, sweating and panting. Lucy lugs herself over to Shiori and plops down next to her.

“Please… Don’t let every day be like this…” She leans against Shiori as she catches her breath. Shiori blushes a little, unsure how to act, but lets Lucy stay anyway. The others sit in a little circle around Shiori as Ryuji walks up sweating too. She looks over to see him lifting his shirt to wipe away the sweat on his face. Shiori blushes, looking at his body again. Then Lucy leans up and slaps his tummy. He jumps, shocked by the motion.

“What are you sweating for? You’re in great shape!” Lucy complains.

“Doesn’t mean exercise doesn’t affect me.”

“Yeah, well, get over it. You’re making me sweat more just looking at you.” She leans back against the fence behind them. 

“Alright, good job out there, guys. I liked the effort I saw. I hope you bring your A game every day from now on, got it? Now go back and get changed. Class is almost over.” He sends them off, and they do.

Once school ends, they meet up as they normally do. Lucy stretches her back as Ryuji watches. 

“Hey guys, wanna maybe go eat somewhere?” Chizuru asks with an excited look.

“You mean like now?” Haru asks.

“Yeah!”

“I’d love to Chizu, but I’m pretty dry on money at the moment.” Lucy says.

“As am I.” Ryuji adds. Haru awkwardly rubs the back of his head. Chizuru gets an upset look on her face. Lucy notices and is about to speak up when she’s interrupted by Sugawara jumping in quickly.

“I got money! Uh… I mean, I can pay for you… It’s not a problem…” He gets nervous.

“You sure? You know you don’t have to.” Lucy clarifies.

“I know, but… I want to… I have lots of money. My family is pretty wealthy, and it’s not like I can really do anything else with it… If it means I can hangout with you guys more, then I’ll… I’ll pay anything!” He says proudly, blushing a bit. Lucy pats him on the head.

“You know, you don’t have to pay to hangout with us.” She smiles at him and he blushes. “But I can’t deny free stuff, so come on. Let’s get going.” She throws her arms behind her head and begins walking away as Chizuru and Sugawara’s eyes light up. Hikigaya and Shiori have looks of surprise as they shrug and follow along.

The group all decide to head to a ramen shop of Lucy’s picking. As soon as they come in, the middle-aged shopkeeper smiles happily. 

“Ah, Ryuji my boy! How are you? I hope you’re feeding yourself properly?” He pats Ryuji on the back, who smiles a bit.

“Dad, you saw him like a couple days ago.” Lucy says while walking in past him. Kenji, her dad, sweats a bit.

“Ah yes, that’s right..” He laughs, embarrassed. He then notices the others. “Chizuru! Hikigaya! Good to see you as well! And a couple new faces I see. Come on in, take a seat!” He smiles at them as he goes behind the counter again and they take a seat at the bar in front of him. “What can I get you guys? I imagine a group of teenagers like yourselves are gonna have quite an appetite.” He gives them a wink and finger gun on the chin. They look for a moment before deciding and ordering. As they eat, Shiori looks over to Lucy, sitting on her left.

“That’s your dad?”

“Yep.”

“He owns this shop?”

“Yep.” She responds before slurping more noodles. Shiori looks over to Kenji in the kitchen, cooking away, enjoying himself. She smiles softly to herself.

“That’s so cool..” She says with a whisper under her breath.

“*mouth full* Hey, Hikigaya, Shiori. I’ve been meaning to ask you guys. gulp How did you guys meet exactly?” Haru asks, looking over at them. Ryuji perks up a bit, intrigued by the question. “You kinda were just there one day, Shiori, saying how you and Hikigaya are stuck together.” Haru adds.

“Yeah, what is with that?” Chizuru leans past Lucy to look at Shiori. Now all eyes are on the two of them, interested in their backstory. Shiori looks embarrassed, being the center of attention while Hikigaya gladly responds.

“Oh, you want to know? Well, there I was, minding my own business, right? When suddenly, a one eyed winged beast comes from the sky screeching as it tries to grab me with its big claws!” He waves his arms up while greatly exaggerating the story. The beast he depicts is, of course, representing Shiori. She gets irritated and hits him in the stomach. He hunches over a bit.

“Stop making me sound like some monster! Besides, that’s not even what happened.”

“So what did happen, Shiori?” Chizuru asks. Shiori sighs.

“Alright, fine. But it's not as exciting as you are making it seem." She says with a defeated tone. "After getting our letters saying we got into Iris High, we both got an extra letter from the Principal herself. It explained a special situation Hikigaya and I were in and told us that during orientation day we’d need to meet her in her office.” It trails off as she explains the story.

Orientation day, a week before school starts. A compact two-door car drives up with Takanou and Shiori in it. He is dropping Shiori off. 

“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“I’m fine, papa. I got in already. What’s the worst they could do?”

He smiles at her.

“You’re such a strong girl. I am so proud of you.” He rubs her head, making her smile. “I’ll be back in a couple hours to pick you up. Call me if you need anything.”

She nods. She gets out and waves as he drives away. Her smile slowly fades as she turns around and sighs.

‘Oh boy… Here we go.’

She goes around her soon to be new school being greeted by some young people at the front entrance wearing school spirit shirts and giving her a packet and a school bag. Then she approaches a window and is given her uniform. She walks down the hall, reading her schedule list.

“Okay, so far, so good. Got my paperwork and my uniform. Next it says… Go to the main office… Well, that can’t be good.” She says with a dreadful tone.

She enters the main office building and sees attendants running papers and files around frantically but organized, getting ready for the upcoming school year. She approaches the counter.

“Excuse me?”

The desk attendant lady notices her and smiles.

“Oh~ You must be the other ‘special case’. Shiori Inabi, right?” She nods. “Go ahead and head straight for the principal’s office down the way there.”

She points in the direction, and Shiori thanks her, then starts walking. Once she gets closer to the door, she sees a boy sitting in a chair, waiting as well. She sits next to him in the only other chair available by the office. They sit in silence for a moment before the boy speaks up.

“You must be that special case they were talking about, right?”

“I guess. And you must be the other?” She doesn’t even bother to look at him when replying.

“Oh no no no, you see, I’m a model student. Best of the best. Everybody likes me.” He tugs at the collar of his open button-up shirt with his yellow shirt underneath. Suddenly, the Principal’s voice calls out.

“Both of you get in here.”

He swallows his words, and she smirks at him. They walk through the door and are motioned to take a seat, so they do. They are sitting right in front of the Principal’s desk.

“I assume you both got my letter well?” They nod. She smiles a bit. “Good. Now let me elaborate on the topic I briefly mentioned in said letter. You both are great students. Your academic scores are very high for students your age. Shiori’s a bit higher than yours, Hikigaya.”

Shiori smirks at him again while Hikigaya rolls his eyes.

“Yet, you both managed to ace your entrance exams with a 95% or higher. Which is why you are here now. However, there is obviously more to the two of you than meets the eye because I have never seen two students as smart as yourselves have such a long and intense record of disobedience and violence. Ignoring your teachers, starting fights, aggressive attitudes.”

They both look upset. They click their tongues and shoot their heads to opposite sides.

“I am not sure what has gone on in your life that made you believe such actions are okay, but that is going to end here. You are in my school now and I will not take such things as lightly as your previous schools have.”

They roll their eyes.

“So, instead of simply rejecting two bright students like yourselves, I am going to cut you a deal. You both will be placed under special care with a select few of our staff. Your classes will be decided for you, your teachers will be decided for you. Your whole school day schedule will be decided for you and on top of that, you both will need to stick together, side by side, until the final bell has rung for the day. Do I make myself clear?”

They both freak out.

“What!?!” They say together. Hikigaya speaks first.

“I don’t even know her!”

“Yeah, and I don’t know him! He could be some kind of creep for all I know!”

“Hey.” He says with an offended look.

“Mhm. This is not a lighthearted threat. If you do not obey the restrictions and guidelines within your packet, you will be expelled immediately. Do you both understand?”

They stutter for a moment, trying to come up with some kind of excuse but can’t.

“Yes…” They say in unison.

“Good. When you have proven yourselves and maintained such good behavior, all restrictions will be lifted. Now off you go. And do try to enjoy your high school experience here at Iris High. It is a once in a lifetime thing after all.” She smiles and waves them off as they walk away, upset. They continue the rest of the orientation day as scheduled. Shiori, however, was not having a good time.

Eventually, the day comes to a close ending with Shiori and Hikigaya walking towards the parking lot. Shiori is leading, walking as furious as she is.

“Listen here. Just because she stuck me with you doesn’t mean I’m gonna be your best bud or anything, got it?" Hikigaya says from behind her.

“Good. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” She snaps back.

“Good.”

They both reach the curb and stop, waiting for their rides. They stand side by side in silence for a while, fuming in their own frustrations, until Hikigaya takes a breath and looks at Shiori.

“*sigh* Look, maybe.. Maybe we’re going a little fast here. I don’t even know your name, let alone if I should hate you or not.”

‘Wow, how charming…’ “My name is Shiori Inabi.” She says with an eye roll.

“My name is Hikigaya Oshiro. ”

Shiori looks at him for a moment, then looks forward, not saying anything back. They stand there for a moment in silence again while Hikigaya just stares at her.

“You’re not the social type, are you?..”

Shiori turns away from him, annoyed.

“tch..” ‘And you don’t seem to get the hint…’ She thinks with an irritated tone. Takanou soon rolls up and Shiori climbs in, slamming the door, not saying anything. She drives away as Hikigaya just stands there, staring.

“Who’s that boy? Making new friends already?” Takanou asks, unaware of her current mood.

“He’s nobody.” She says angrily, staring out the window. Hikigaya stares at the car as she drives off, no particular emotion on his face. He shrugs it off.

“Oh well. At least I’m stuck with someone cute.” He throws his arms behind his head and looks up at the partly cloudy sky.

Shiori, at home, slams her bedroom door. Hamasaki looks concerned and looks at Takanou. He sighs and shakes his head. Shiori jumps on her bed, slamming her face into the pillow aggravated. 

'I can't believe this! The school year hasn't even started, and it's already awful! I have to spend all my time with that guy?' She rolls over on her side. “This sucks...” She groans.

Coming back to the ramen shop. Shiori is poking at her bowl as the others look pleased with the story. Shiori sees them staring and blushes, embarrassed. 

“See? I told you it wasn’t a big deal..”

“So that explains it. I was just under the assumption that you were obsessed with each other.” Chizuru says innocently.

“Chizuru!” Shiori yells at her, blushing. Chizuru giggles and shrugs, smiling nervously.

“Can you blame me? When has something like this ever happened before? It could’ve been an excuse.” She says, defending her thoughts. Shiori huffs, still blushing a bit.

“Well, it’s not. I can’t stand Hikigaya anymore than I can stand any other moron.” She crosses her arms, pouting a bit. 

“Aw, and here I was thinking you were falling for me.” Hikigaya says sarcastically, leaning on his hand. She flicks a tofu cube that fell from his bowl at his forehead. His head jolts back from the impact. He then quickly tries to clean the soup residue from his forehead with a napkin.

“Delinquent students, huh? We knew Hikigaya had a hard time staying out of trouble, but you, Shiori?” Ryuji says with a soft smile on his face. She blushes a bit.

“Believe me. When Chizu and I first met her, she was hard as a rock. The first thing she did was insult her!” Lucy says, leaning past Shiori and looking at Ryuji. Shiori looks shocked.

“Lucy! Please don’t tell him that! I already apologized!” She holds Lucy’s shoulder looking desperate. Lucy laughs.

“Hey, don’t sweat it! You think we all got along with no fights over the years?” Lucy laughs as Haru speaks up.

“Oh yeah, believe me. Hiki and I once had a big blowup and didn’t talk to each other for a week.”

“Really? You guys did that, Haru?” Sugawara asks with a surprised look. He’s surprised that even Haru can be so mad.

“Haha yeah! And over a stupid manga!”

“Hey, you’re the one who destroyed it.” Hikigaya adds with a smirk.

“It fell into the river by accident!” They laugh about it as Shiori looks around, surprised that her friends can laugh about things that once made them upset. She looks down with a conflicted look before finishing her bowl. Lucy’s dad comes out from behind the curtains of the kitchen.

“Okay, you kids. All finished?” They nod happily as Sugawara finishes up last. “Good. Now get out. I gotta start closing up shop here.”

They clean up a bit and get their things to head to the door. As they do that, Sugawara reaches into his bag and pulls out a wallet. He begins to pull out payment for the meal when Kenji notices.

“Hey, young man. What are you doing?”

Sugawara looks surprised.

“I’m going to pay for the food..?”

Kenji waves his hand in front of him.

“No, no. Go on and head home. Kids your age shouldn’t be worrying about things like that.” He smiles warmly at Sugawara, who is shocked. Lucy pats him on the shoulder.

“I told you, you don’t have to pay to hangout with us.” She smiles at him and turns towards the door. He lightens up with a warm smile and then bows sharply to Kenji.

“Thank you very much for the food, sir!”

Kenji nods as they head out.

“Oh and Lucy,” She turns. “See you at home, sweetpea. Love you.”

“Daaad!” She groans with an embarrassed look, rushing out of the door as he waves them off. The group then all heads their separate ways after some warm goodbyes.