Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [40] + Profile & Backstory

“Um…Hikigaya-senpai, did you receive any notice from Sōbu High? I've been waiting all day, but nothing’s come yet. Could it be that I’m out of luck?”

The next evening after work, as Hikigaya Ryōhei carried home a bag of discounted groceries and two boxes of nicely packaged pastries, he received a phone call from Kirisu Mafuyu.

Glancing upward with an exhausted expression, Uncle Hikigaya thought to himself, Today sure felt awfully long.

“It’s probably too early for that. I remember the job posting explicitly said that interviews are open for several days, so decisions probably won’t be made until the weekend. Didn’t you read the timeline?” Ryōhei patiently explained. It wasn’t unusual for young first-time job seekers, jittery after an interview, to become restless and anxious.

“Huh? Ah…right, I think there was something like that. Sorry, really sorry! My apologies for bothering you!”

Mafuyu, exactly as Ryōhei suspected, had spent the entire day glued to her phone, neglecting even her house chores.

After asking a few more questions to this friendly senior, Mafuyu realized he seemed busy and quickly ended the call, apologizing again.

Putting down the phone, she realized from Hikigaya-san’s words that she had probably been overthinking.

As a freshly graduated twenty-one-year-old experiencing the harsh realities of society for the first time, Mafuyu had been going to interviews continuously. She was trapped in a never-ending cycle of either the employer not choosing her, or she herself not being interested in the job.

Of course, this job at Sōbu High was something she really wanted—so her biggest worry was that they might not want her.

After repeated unsuccessful attempts, her confidence was nearly depleted. Hope and patience were wearing dangerously thin, and she was struggling with the constant feeling of disappointment.

She had come alone to Tokyo, renting a small single room, and hadn’t made any real friends yet. While she'd met some peers during earlier interviews, she always kept a certain distance.

Maintaining a rigid, formal posture at each interview was getting increasingly unbearable.

“Ahhhh! I just want to know the result already!” The pink-haired girl stretched her slender arms upwards dramatically, letting out a frustrated groan, and threw herself backward onto the tatami.

But she accidentally hit her head on a messy stack of textbooks behind her. “Ow ow ow!”

Sitting back up reluctantly, Mafuyu rubbed her aching head through her silky hair. Turning her upper body, clad in a short-sleeved blouse, she looked in annoyance at the messy tatami around her.

“I guess I should clean up a bit… After all, I'm now officially someone who’s been called 'Oba-san'! Hmph! Are all high schoolers nowadays this irritating?” She was still nursing a grudge from yesterday’s blow. It had rattled her enough that when she glanced into the mirror this morning, she'd seriously wondered if she'd aged two whole years overnight.

Just as Mafuyu stood up, pulling back the strands of pink hair she'd carelessly left loose all day, there was a sudden knock at the door.

“Hello, delivery!”

...

Ryōhei didn’t pay much mind to Mafuyu’s situation.

To him, she was likely just someone he'd had a nice chat with once—nothing more than a passerby he'd probably never become close with.

After getting home that evening, he had dinner with Hachiman and Komachi as usual.

He washed the dishes, tidied the room, and even put out the pastries he'd specially bought.

As a former teacher, he’d done home visits himself before, and personally felt that keeping things casual was fine; excessive preparations from parents always made him feel uncomfortable.

However, Japanese society placed great importance on courtesy. They often went to great lengths to make even trivial matters appear perfect, largely due to a collective sense of pride.

Thus, he decided it best to just follow local customs.

And so, the Hikigaya family quietly awaited the arrival of the teacher named Hiratsuka Shizuka.

Dealing with teachers was something Hikigaya Ryōhei was very experienced in, so he calmly took out a book to read while waiting.

Shortly after the Hikigaya family finished preparations, a red Maybach driven by the thirty-year-old Japanese literature teacher of Sōbu High, class teacher of Hikigaya Hachiman—Hiratsuka Shizuka—pulled up outside the apartment complex.

She circled the area twice, even stopping to ask a group of idle young delinquents loitering on a corner to confirm that this really was where Hikigaya Hachiman’s family lived.

Under the dim, flickering streetlamp, she double-checked Hachiman’s student files and glanced up at the building number again. There was no mistake.

Hiratsuka Shizuka’s flawlessly beautiful face showed a slight flicker of surprise.

Typically, for a prestigious school like Sōbu High, with its higher-than-average entrance requirements, students rarely came from such impoverished backgrounds.

She had certainly never encountered such a situation in past home visits.

But Shizuka quickly shook off her astonishment, pocketed the car keys, closed the door, grabbed her folder, and made her way inside, eventually finding the somewhat dark stairwell.

As for that ridiculously expensive, eye-catching red Maybach, she casually left it under the streetlamp.

Being a genuinely dedicated teacher, Shizuka wouldn’t let a student’s family circumstances affect her judgment. As an educator, it was her duty to personally observe and understand each student's home life and growth environment, to see firsthand their behavior at home, and to communicate directly with their parents.

Education was a collaborative effort between the school and family—communication was indispensable.

Though young-looking, Hiratsuka Shizuka was actually a seasoned, near-middle-aged teacher who had fought on the educational frontline for years, having experienced countless home visits.

The moment she pressed the doorbell, she'd already formulated a conversation plan for speaking with Hikigaya Hachiman’s guardian. Since Hachiman’s family situation seemed difficult, she needed to emphasize clearly the importance of studies to his parent, stressing the value of creating a positive home environment for the child.

Even without ample material resources, there were always things parents could do better.

“You must be Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei. I'm Hikigaya Ryōhei, Hachiman’s father. Please come in, come in! My home’s quite modest, so please excuse me.”

Seeing such a young female teacher appear at his door, Ryōhei also felt slightly puzzled. Normally, a young woman wouldn’t make a home visit this late, especially considering recent safety concerns.

But he shrugged off the thought.

“Yes, I’m Hikigaya-kun’s homeroom teacher. Given his unique circumstances, I decided to make this home visit on short notice. Sorry for intruding.” Normally, the school gave a one or even two-week advance notice before official home visits, but tonight’s decision had been Hiratsuka Shizuka’s alone.

Shizuka entered the narrow yet impeccably clean and organized one-room apartment.

The beautiful teacher, formally dressed and radiating elegance, smoothly sat on the cushion with graceful movements, politely bowing in a kneeling posture to exchange formal greetings with Hikigaya-san.

She blinked her bright eyes once, deciding that Hikigaya Ryōhei-san seemed like a genuinely kind person. She felt optimistic about having a productive conversation.

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Character Profile: Hikigaya Ryōhei (Oji-san)

Name:
Hikigaya Ryōhei (Father of Hikigaya Hachiman)

Gender:
Male (Middle-aged Uncle)

Appearance:
Black-haired uncle in his mid-thirties; sports the same iconic ahoge as his children, Hachiman and Komachi.

Birthday:
July 1st

Height:
178 cm

Weight:
Before transmigration: heavier with a beer belly.

After transmigration: Started exercising regularly, losing the belly and gradually developing a more balanced physique and improved health.

...

A gentle, tolerant, and family-oriented man who was financially stable and considered an ideal husband.

Exceptionally patient and caring towards his sentimental, overly romantic wife, Hikigaya Kazusa (Tōma Kazusa). Responsible and attentive to even the smallest wishes of his wife, he always went above and beyond to fulfill her needs. Never shirked responsibilities or lost his temper at home, consistently enduring the harsh 996 (9 AM–9 PM, six days a week) work schedule without complaint.

During his youth, he confessed successfully when Kazusa was heartbroken from a failed first love, marrying her and having two children: Hikigaya Hachiman and Hikigaya Komachi.

Kazusa, however, never fully moved past her failed first love, so their marriage settled into a quiet, mutually respectful coexistence. Despite the regrets, they maintained an amicable and cooperative marriage for over a decade.

This delicate equilibrium was shattered when his troublemaking mother-in-law, Tōma Yōko, irresponsibly encouraged her immature daughter to pursue her lost first love.

A series of events ensued, ultimately leading to divorce and a broken family.

Due to guilt, Kazusa relinquished custody of the children. Out of lingering affection and sympathy, the original Ryōhei waived child-support payments and generously gave most of his savings to his ex-wife.

As the global economic crisis worsened, causing a brutal downturn in his industry, Ryōhei lost his job overnight. This, compounded by the collapse of the housing market, left him bankrupt, forcing him to relocate rapidly to a cheap, run-down apartment.

Years of relentless 996 work had severely impacted his health, resulting in hospitalization in an ICU for a week and exhausting his remaining savings completely.

All the fruits of his decade-long labor turned to ashes overnight, leaving him effectively destitute.

In a moment of despair—having lost the family and wife he’d lived to protect—the original Hikigaya Ryōhei attempted a "leap of faith" from his cheap second-floor apartment, only to become entangled in a crooked tree. This was the situation inherited by Lin Zhe upon transmigration.

...

Now inhabited by Lin Zhe, formerly an ordinary high-school teacher from his previous life.

Compassionate without being blindly altruistic; mature, calm, and decisive.

In his previous life, Lin Zhe was thoroughly ordinary, a common teacher at a commonplace school.

Around the same age as Ryōhei, Lin Zhe’s rich pre-teaching life experiences (emphasize strongly) had once made him passive and unambitious. Transmigration gave him a fresh chance to start anew.

After transmigration, Lin Zhe immediately accepted responsibility for Hachiman and Komachi as his obligation.

Upon discovering the desperate state of his new family, he refused to wallow in self-pity, quickly adjusted his mindset, and started working odd jobs to provide for the household, cautiously optimistic about his new life.

Once he found his footing, he actively sought out better employment to improve the family's financial situation.

Unlike the original Ryōhei’s obsessive love for Kazusa, the new Ryōhei adopted a more casual, "whatever comes will come" (Buddhist-like) approach to relationships. He doesn't reject the possibility of forming a new family, and he even once advised Kitahara Setsuna to divorce.

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A/N: You know, even this character setting has been criticized pretty harshly! Probably because it’s quite rare, huh? (lol)

This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!