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"Hajime-chan! Can you help me tune my guitar later? Ibuki could do it herself, but Hajime-chan is much better at it!" Ibuki's yells from across tables making a few duck their heads as they wince.
"Yeah I can, later after I help Souda though. I had promised him that I'd help fix various appliances in the old building." All was said between bites of omurice made perfectly by their own Ultimate Cook, he doesn't even need to glance up from his breakfast to answer.
Ibuki happily squealed a 'Thank youuuuuuuuu! Hajime-chan!~' before dropping all her weight at once in her chair to continuing whatever conversation she was having with Mahiru.
Hajime was about to warn her not to do that or she'd fall, but it was ultimately deemed unnecessary. Abrupt pats to his back followed by an arm around his shoulder makes Hajime's food jump off his fork and back onto his plate. Souda giving his soul bro his own gesture of appreciation before smiling a toothy grin.
"Yo Hajime, thanks again for helpin’ me out with that. We may not use that place much but gotta keep everything on this island in check." He throws his friend next to him a smile and thumbs up as the Ultimate Ultimate hopes to finish his breakfast without any more interruption.
After getting everyone successfully out with memories intact from not only The Tragedy but the Neo World Program as well, they had all made a comforting life for themselves on Jabberwock. Of course the first two to three months were... 'troubling' to say the least. A simple word or two, a location in Jabberwock, merely looking at someone, there were so many actions alone that dug up old emotions. None of them led to major arguments or fights thankfully, just a lot of silence and comforting where it was needed. They all more or less were in the same boat after all, it was hard to blame each other for actions under pressure and outside influence. Over time many had even made it past the daily nightmares and the all-nighters that reluctantly hung over them. However, the effects of the trauma gained from being the remnants of despair and prisoners in an unwanted killing game definitely lingered regardless of how much time passed. Thankfully Tsumiki and the newly gifted Hajime with Kamukura Izuru's talents had been remarkable help to anyone who needed medical help- or any help whatsoever, since they had the 'Ultimate Ultimate' with them now. Something they all eventually eased into accepting as well, being extremely careful not to overwork and overwhelm Hajime in the beginning. Maybe a bit too careful.
They all loved having Hajime help them as the Ultimate Ultimate, to them it was as if he was a safety net in a way. A blessing they never asked for nor deserved. If any of them felt like their ultimate ability was slipping from them or they'd felt like their work could maybe be improved, Hajime was there to assist out of his own volition. 'Two heads are always better than one.' many say after all! At some point in those early months though they had randomly distanced themselves from Hajime, leading him to believe he did something wrong. Or that maybe someone had said something to make everyone distance themselves from each other? Could it be that his new scar and mismatched eyes make them uncomfortable? Was he too controlling? Demanding? Scary even? If he was then he was extremely sorry, it wasn't intentional! He had tried to carefully approach a few about it. But each and every one had shied away from the start of any complex conversation he'd attempt to ignite, all finding some lame excuse to get away from him. Until he had gotten Souda to crack and admit that everyone felt as if they were taking advantage of Hajime and his plethora of man-made talents. Hajime had assumed so many horrible reasons at the time he simply laughed and smiled at Souda, a few tears leaving him from the relief.
Hajime made sure to reassure everyone at breakfast the next day that not a single one of their classmates had offended him and he was always happy to help when he could. In fact, at that point he even told them all it was more than okay if they wanted to start calling him by his first name. They all spent enough time together that formalities could easily be dropped since this island and the classmates they had there were now family in a way. One after another everyone had agreed to Hajime's reasoning that morning, they even felt a little ashamed of themselves. Soon enough be it first or last name, everyone had gotten comfortable with one another, no longer strangers to one another but a janky-broken-and-put-together-multiple-times family.
Though one of those family members was different to say the very least, the infamous Ultimate Lucky Student, Komaeda Nagito. He was reluctant in asking Hajime for help before the misunderstanding between the entire Class 77-B and Hajime had even occurred. Hajime had woken Komaeda from the Neo World Program, attached the prosthetic to him with help from Tsumiki and Souda, took a quick class field trip to assist Naegi and co, and came back to Jabberwock. Sure, they shared simple convos every now and then, but nothing about formalities and emotions really. It was all conversations that mattered in the moment. If anything, Komaeda went out of his way once home and off the boat to make it very clear in the best he could about his intentions in the simulation. Sadly, his views on hope and how indirectly beginning the killings and bringing despair made the class’s hope shine brighter didn't land too well. What did land well was his intentions in the last trial. Sacrificing himself to rid the despair he had assumed walked alongside him in oblivion within the simulation. With this the class could deal with, again understanding that at the end of the day they were just victims. Victims of despair that wished to wipe the slate clean to get along much like they did in their Hope's Peak days, hopeful and bright days.
An airy giggle from across his seat had cut through Hajime's reminiscing, "Sounds like you have your day cut out for you Hinata-kun! Do tell if I can be of any help today, I'd hate to find out my worthless body could have been of use to you."
A relaxed face suddenly shifts into an annoyed glare directed across from him as he hears Komaeda be self-deprecating once again. He finds Komaeda looking at his prosthetic, something he does often when degrading himself. Unnecessary thoughts swirl in the back of his mind.
''Hinata-kun', he says still. Hmm." A problem for another day when he has time to worry about Komaeda's formality choices with him, which was probably never. Hajime finishes his omurice and takes a drink of water before speaking.
"Komaeda, you aren't worthless. I told you to stop insulting yourself already, it's fine." With a sigh and quick assessment of the pros and cons that would follow with Komaeda helping him he continues, "you're welcome to help me out today if you want, but if you are going to tag along I don't want to hear you put yourself down. At all." weird how there were very few cons, he may have to think about how he got to that result later.
Komaeda's eyes widened, a beaming ear to ear smile flashing on his face once he was able to process his friend's offer. The others chatting in the diner became such minimal white noise all because of how much focus Hajime automatically put on Komaeda's presence and genuine smile alone.
"I would be honored to help, Hinata-kun! I will do my best to assist you and not be absolute tra-" insulting words come to a complete hault as the boy across from him clears his throat in annoyance, "Ahem, I will do my best to assist you to the best of my ability. Thank you for allowing me to stay near you for such a long period of time today!"
Hajime sighs, looking across the table at the luckster. "Don't mention it, not like you wouldn't find me by chance later and stick around anyway."
His brows furrow as he tries to take piece together the logistics of how Komaeda was always able to find him with such ease, but to no avail. Just one of the many mysteries of Komaeda's luck he supposed.
"I swear, your luck is so strange sometimes. It's like a magnet to me whenever you're free or bored." he takes another drink of water.
It was silent, only gulping and the last few footsteps and conversations leaving the diner could really be heard. Hajime came to the quick conclusion that Souda must have left once Komaeda opened his mouth, he was too distracted with their conversation to note the mechanic had even left till now. The empty glass was carefully placed on the table a beat later, snapping Komaeda out of the wide-eyed stupor Hajime found him in once he was done with his water.
"Komaeda? Hey, you okay?"
"Ah. Yes, I'm... fine Hinata-kun. I will see you later today outside the lobby at ten, that's when you'll be going to help Souda, right?" His eyes closed and lips pulled into a warry smile.
"Um, yeah. Yeah, that's when- wait, how did you-" he never told him a single detail- hell they don't even talk on a daily basis, Komaeda knowing any part of his agenda was strange.
Komaeda got up, head bowing forward as he did, obstructing Hajime's view of his face. "Oh just a lucky guess! You know how it goes."
The back of his hand waved non-chalantly as he made his way down the stairs, "Alright. Until later then, Hinata-kun!"
What was with him just now? How did he know what time he was leaving to meet Souda? Why did he look... worried? Hajime always had more questions after talking with Komaeda, even more so after that exchange.
"Guess I'll find out later I suppose?" fussing over the small details weren't going to do much, so he shrugged and went on as if nothing was new.
He took his dishes and Komaeda's into the kitchen, walking as if he was on auto pilot. Hajime's gaze had a weird habit of sticking to Komaeda's back when he walked away, he simply labeled it as an excessive but reasonable worry. Ultimate abilities too late to respond, Hajime bumps into Imposter, said glutton was in the looming in the doorway to the kitchen. Barely fazed by the sudden collision, Imposter continued to generously finish off the morning's leftovers- or rather, 'Reducing water usage and food waste...' as he would often call it. Hajime quickly regains his balance as well as the balance of the empty cups' on the stack of plates in his hand.
"Hey Hajime, why doesn't he call you by your given name like the rest of us do at this point? He was there for the meeting when we discussed given names, was he not?" Hajime looks up from the tableware he was fixing and turns to follows Imposters' eyes behind him to the stairs where Nagito left.
"Oh, um."
He'd had thought about this a few times- maybe too many times - when his ever-inquisitive brain failed to settle down for the night and think about meaningless subjects. Komaeda was indeed there the day Hajime said formalities could be tossed far out the window and into the sea as long as it was okay between the parties concerned. Of course, there were more than a few assumptions in mind as to why Komaeda chose otherwise with him specifically, so many that they all made sense from some direction if you squinted hard enough and thought a little twisted like Komaeda. But Hajime didn't quite mind that the formalities stayed, it only bugged him in a weird way that he didn't want to chase. The answers would come someday anyway, there was no need to cause an uproar over such a petty matter.
Hajime shrugged and walked around the Imposter, "I don't really know, I've been drawn to many possible reasons followed by more suspicions, but I never asked him. I don't mind it too much anyway." he handed the stack to Hanamura who was at the sink, "Could be that it's just uncomfortable for him. Just for me in particular. Aaand not you guys, for some Komaeda-like reason. You know how he is."
Hanamura turned his head from the dishes and cheekily raised his brows at him, giving him a flat smile, a silent condescending look for sure, something Hajime returned with squinted eyes and a quick shake of his head. That look usually meant the Ultimate cook had some sort of ridiculous comment to make, something that dabbled in the realm of romance, but there was no way. Hajime had entertained the possibility for a mere second before and only a second before deeming it highly unlikely. Imposter had pivoted to watch with a smile plastered on his face from the exchange, shrugging to Hajime before the lime lighted man made his way back into the dining room.
"By all means, you guys could ask him if you really want to. I just don't make it my priority to find out is all." He walks backwards with arms wide open, a gesture supposedly telling of how much this mystery didn't affect him.
"Ya know, tha wouln't be too bad of ahn idea, cher!~" The Ultimate Chef chirps on the loud side to reach Hajime's ears.
"No, it doesn't at all." mutters Imposter.
Showered and ready to probably make his efforts of doing so meaningless after a day of sweaty work, Hajime left his cottage. It came as no surprise when he rounded the corner and saw Komaeda across the pool, leaning on the lobby's glass door and killing time with a book. The pale boy's focus was pulled from said book as he heard footsteps approach, a singular index finger held his place in the novel before giving Hajime a welcome smile.
"Hey. I don't know how exciting today will actually be, it's literally just me helping our classmates out with a few random things. You still okay just following me around and helping where you can?" Hajime scratched the back of his head; slightly worried Komaeda wasn't completely aware of what he agreed to.
He stood upright and hummed to gather his thoughts, "Well, I'm not quite sure if me -let alone my luck, will be of any help whatsoever to you and your plans for today. But as long as you are okay with having tra- me around, I don't mind hanging out with you at all! Who knows? Maybe my luck will somehow end up making your day even easier on you than usual! That would be so much more than ideal to me!"
He had been so unreasonably distant in the last months, only to suddenly be so cheerful now that they were hanging out. Spending time together to help their friends no less and not to just talk or go somewhere like they did in the simulation. It was certainly a strange turn of events to Hajime.
Eyes rolled and he huffed in amusement at Komaeda's attempt to correct himself mid-sentence, "As long as you know what joining me today means, I'm completely fine with you being here with me. Thank you for keeping me company Komaeda." It was endearing in a strange way you could say, the fact Komaeda didn't change too much, a simple thing that made Hajime happy for some unknown reason. He had missed him and his antics, that much he could admit with confidence.
But that smile and hope-filled mood faltered just the tiniest bit, eyes slowly moving to the ground with a thumb nervously rubbing over the other holding his book down in his hand. All something Hajime quickly noticed within seconds.
"Hey, um. Hinata-kun, I-"
"Duuude!"
The two dart their heads towards the sudden interruption.
"You guys just gonna make me fix this AC all by myself? I'd like some help, pleaaase! Guuuys! Nagitooo! Soul brooo!" Souda was crying out from the window in the old building, rag dolling about in the frame dramatically as he whined.
"Oh my god Souda- give me a minute! We're talking!" Hajime rolled his eyes with a pained laugh at his friend's antics before turning back to Komaeda who was just as entertained with Souda's child-like response.
A comforting hand was placed on Komaeda's shoulder, "Hey, can you hold that thought till we are done? The quicker we are done the faster he will shut up and then you can tell me what's up, okay?"
Komaeda lets out an amused giggle, "Yeah, it can wait. Don't worry, it wasn't anything urgent."
The brunet lifts his hand up from his shoulder to fluff the cloud of hair that was tickling his finger, "Awesome, now let's go help him before he ends up making more things for us to fix."
Hajime then proceeds to walk up and into the old building, leaving the door open for a frozen Komaeda. Running into mental brick wall by mental brick wall, Hajime was calmly and quickly trying to find a good reason as to why he just did that. More importantly, why it felt so nice, so- right. No, it wasn't right. He didn't even call Hajime by, well, 'Hajime'. Why would he think it would be okay to do that at all? Well that was the first thing, he wasn't thinking. Yes, that was the problem. A simple accidental overstep on his part because he wasn't thinking.
"Yo. Bro. You good man?"
"Huh?"
It seemed Hajime had auto pathed himself to Souda in the dining hall where he was kneeling down screwing back in an electrical socket cover.
Hajime mindlessly looks down to the mess of pink tamed by a dark grey beanie, "What? Yeah, I'm fine. Why? What's up?"
He takes a moment to stare half lidded lasers into Hajime's mismatched eyes, "You look out of it man. Nagito say some weird shit to you?"
"What? No, I- never mind that, how is the AC looking in here?" Hajime shakes his head hoping the thoughts leave his train of thought by doing so.
"Hmmm. Well lucky us, the only problem we had was the electrical sockets needed new screws- some of them just new sockets, so there's not much to really fix. Dunno what lazy idiot installed the last ones, but they could have been dangerous if someone tried to plug anything in without rubber gloves." he clicks his tongue in annoyance and flexes his gloved hand, "Almost got electrocuted myself just by removing this damn plug, glad I took precautions."
"I thought the old building's AC unit's were wired through the ceiling not plugged into outlets." Komaeda asks as he walks into the room, Hajime noted he was unfazed by earlier events it seems.
"In the Neo World Program they worked that way, probably so a trial was easier to fuckin plan. In this case though, because we don’t really need to use this building- or every single room if we are in here, the ACs are separate so they can all be manually adjusted." With his free non-gloved hand, Souda points to the buttons under the AC unit above their heads in the wall.
"There is a remote we leave in the office though, in the rare case we ever need to control all the settings at once for every AC in this building. We don't use it often in fear it may cause an electrical outage for this building and this building alone." Hajime informs the boy standing beside him in oddly close proximity.
"Oh, that is convenient!"
"Yep it sure is! Speaking of which, I need you to check and make sure it works how it should, Hajime." Souda dusts his hands off as he stands up and begins resetting the AC unit he had just plugged back in, "Set the temperature on the remote to six, just ten below what they are all manually set at now. If it works right all of the ACs in the building should be changed to six."
The AC soon releases a slow wave of cool air that the boys begin to feel within seconds.
"Ah, what if the building's electricity shorts out soon after though?" Nagito asks hesitantly.
"Shouldn't matter too much, I've checked all of the AC's already to make sure they work like this one does. If we get a blackout it will basically tell us we can't use every single one at once for sure, that's all." Souda lightly pats the AC and grins in confidence of the work he's been able to do all by himself.
"Is the remote still in the office?" Hajime asks.
"Yep! Haven't moved it." Souda reassures before suddenly remembering something, stopping Hajime in his tracks out the double doors, "Oh, wait!"
"Uh, I actually forgot to test the AC in the kitchen after fixing it up. Can you double check for me that when you set it at 16 it blows cold air, Hajime? Then you can test the remote and see if they all sync." aaand there goes that Ultimate Mechanic air of confidence he just had, sweat drops and avoided gaze gave him away if not his wavering voice.
Hajime gave Souda a thumbs up, "Got it."
"Komaeda, stay there in case Souda needs your help, I'll be right back." The footsteps that had started to follow Hajime had stopped.
"Oh, okay." he- for once, didn't sound exactly stoked to listen to Hajime at that moment. Regardless he stayed, watching the brunet walk out the doors and to the left for the kitchen.
"Yo Nagito, can you hand me that red screwdriver on the table? Wanna make sure this AC is still fastened to the wall well." While Nagito was distracted by the back of Hajime getting smaller, Souda had set up a ladder to inspect the top of the AC.
"Oh, um. Yes, yes I can." snapped out of his trance he began to inspect the table of old screws, outlet covers, and a few different tools. Grabbing what was asked of him, he walked over to the bottom of the ladder and held the screwdriver up.
"Here you go Souda."
"Thanks man!"
"Hey, is it cool if I ask you a question?" Souda asks with words a bit strained from tightening screws.
"Sure! I don't mind, anything if it helps an Ultimate!"
"Well, it don't exactly 'help' me, I-I'm just curious- like, is there a reason you call soul bro 'Hinata' and not 'Hajime'? Like, I know it's between you guys, but like- we all kinda call him Hajime now but you."
Komaeda was taken aback a little by such a question from Souda in particular. And while Souda couldn't see due to his focus on fastening the AC to the wall, the silence was telling enough for even the Ultimate Mechanic.
"A-and it's totally cool if you don't wanna tell me, but like, it's just something I'm wondering." he was taking his sweet time on the ladder, fastening every single screw now it seemed.
With an inhale that worried Souda for a second, Komaeda finally spoke, "Well, I do not think trash like me is worthy of calling a person like Hinata by his first name. You are all amazing Ultimates born with great skill and productive lives led by such a gift, but I am simply lucky. There is nothing more to me. Hinata is the Ultimate Ultimate, someone with talent that exceeds all of you, especially a lowly person such as myself. I wouldn't dare burden him with the idea that we could be on the same level in any form where a first name basis would be a normality."
Souda sighed deeply, slowly evolving into a groan, arms going limp and head hitting the wall. It was more of Komaeda's favorite life revolving subjects, Ultimates, hope, and the self-deprecation he almost seems more obsessed with than staying in Hajime's vicinity.
"Am I right to assume my reasonings are- absurd, to say the very least to you?" Komaeda genuinely wonders with the tilt of his head as he looks up at the back of Souda's head.
"I wouldn't call it that. Man, like- it's stuff that Hajime would better understand than me. I don't really know how to respond to stuff like that- but I know you shouldn't be insulting yourself or underselling your talent! Hajime always tells you to quit that shit so I can tell you that much." Souda goes back to twisting the rest of the screws tightly into place before starting his descent down the ladder.
He waves the screwdriver around and points it at Komaeda's face, "Have you talked to Hajime since we woke up about calling him by his given name at least? Like all the stuff you just told me? You guys were actually friends in the simulation I'm surprised you didn't wake up and start calling each other 'Hajime' and 'Nagito' left and right."
"I'd never waste his time with such meaningless topics! He has to help you Ultimates recover and report to the Future Foundation almost weekly- maybe daily even! He has his own personal issues to deal with, and I'm sure much more I’m just not aware of! There's just too many things on his plate that should immediately take priority over me without a doubt!" Komaeda's vigor in his arguments died down quickly along with his volume, "I'm simply lucky he even thought to allow me to join him today in helping out you and the other Ultimates."
Souda threw an arm around Komaeda and shook his glued eyes off the wood boarded floor, "Hey, hey, hey, don't say that! If soul bro let you tag along with him today, then that means you aren't the nobody you keep saying you are. Talk to him about this stuff sometime. He wouldn't have brought you along if he didn't enjoy hangin' with you."
Komaeda looked to the side to Souda's toothy grin and responded with a laugh and smile of his own, only to get shaken again so he could laugh even more before letting him go.
"This is awful nice of you to say Souda, thank you. I'll think about talking to Hinata about it, maybe. I did ask to join him today in hopes I'd get to talk to him about something, but my hopes were and still are low." a rare tinge of confidence and hope in his self-worth could be heard as he spoke.
"Ayo, no 'maybe' shit, sometime soon dude! You're an ultimate too man, you got luck and that shits fucking scary good. Swear to god, it's gonna make me shit my pants someday." shivers were sent down Souda's spine from the crazy things in the past Komaeda's luck managed to pull off. It actually made Souda wonder how the truck didn't isekai him in the past at Hope's Peak.
"Hajime doesn't want you to undersell yourself and neither do the rest of us. You may be one fucked up dude but you're still one of us, part of the soul family!" Souda pumped his fist into the air at the new creative title he just gave everyone on the island.
"We all got closure from the past and I think you're way overdue for one with Hajime. Nothing should make you think you're not good enough to talk to any of us."
He held up his right hand speechlessly asking for a high-five. Nagito considered leaving him hanging just to get a kick out of Souda, but how could he after such a hopeful speech. Even though he returned the high-five cautiously the mechanic was starting to overwhelm the poor introvert, so much hope in one man over a petty matter.
"You're very confident about these opinions of yours I must say, it's impossible to claim I don't envy your optimistic enthusiasm."
Souda had to process that sentence for a minute or two before firmly placing a hand on Nagito's right shoulder, "Hey, just think about what I said. You're a hella smart dude, you'll figure out somethin'." patting his shoulder only to turn him around and lightly push him towards the door, "Actually, why don't you go check on him now. He should be in the office lookin' for that universal AC remote."
Out of words and with no arguments against seeing Hajime, Komaeda waved and left Souda to clean up his tools and the old removed AC parts scattered on top of the table. Distracted by longing, a few bitter words were threatening to spill out of Komaeda as he almost trips over a crate of tools and safety measures of the like. A box that Souda had lugged along to every project of his, a practice he quickly adapted after waking up from the Neo World Program, everyone treasured their life a little more than they did before.
As he opened the dining room doors and made his way to the office sudden bitter emotions hit him fast upon remembering the Neo World Program. The first killing, the first incident to make the Ultimates despise him and lock him up in this very building. With the few steps he takes making floorboards creak under his feet he wonders how things would have been if he was the one who died first, the one and only person who would be at fault for his suicide. Would he have an easier time talking to his classmates? To Hajime? He sighs to himself, after that amazing speech from none other than Souda all he can think about is how much of a mess he makes. Who wouldn't call him absolute trash? Nagito opens the office door, the momentary spiral of despairing thoughts feeling much longer than it was.
Hinata turns around and greets him with a "Hey." accompanied by a small smile from where he stood holding a button down on the remote. The luckster meets him with a smile, his brows working against him and showing mild discomfort briefly before he walks towards Hinata. His futile attempt at looking stable and unfazed was mediocre at best, but the sight of the brunet did help lighten his mood a bit.
"Hey."
Hajime's eyes arch in concern as he leans against the wall under the AC, "You okay? Souda wasn't being rude to you like before, was he?"
"Hmm? Oh. No, Souda left me with some insightful thoughts actually." He used a finger to tip the remote in Hinata's hand down to where he could see what button he was pressing, "His energy alone -while hopeful and optimistic for my well-being, was quite draining. Though I appreciated it and told him as such."
Hinata was holding down the down arrow to decrease the temperature to 16 as per Souda's request, but geez who set the remote at 60 C to begin with? Komaeda's head shook in confusion, eyes squinting at the digital numbers, Hinata casually shrugged just as clueless.
"Wow, that's- really good to hear." Hinata gave him a soft smile, it tripped Komaeda up a bit.
The sole finger holding remote flat fell away, Hajime stole all of his attention yet again.
"Why do you say that like it's surprising?"
Hajime's eyes averted to the ceiling briefly as a sigh escaped his lips, "I know everyone is okay with one another now, but before. Everyone else was very hesitant to have anything to do with you when we got out of the Neo World Program. To tell you the truth, I did too."
Breathing was suddenly on the verge of becoming difficult for Komaeda, it was so sudden he couldn't determine why, "Oh. Um, I-"
"But I thought back to every time you said you cared for me, said that you enjoyed my presence in some way or another. Even after finding out I didn't have an ultimate ability. You helped me probably more than you realize in every trial and investigation."
Hajime's eyes shut tightly, grip on the small remote increasing, "Hell, I had to think like you to even solve your-"
Komaeda remains silent as his own eyes bore into the cursed floorboards yet again. Tears threatening to fall straight out of his eyes from this up and down reveal of Hajime's thought process. He was sorry for his actions- every single one of them that threatened their lives, truly he was.
Hands suddenly took both of Komaeda's firmly with a remote in one, "I couldn't leave you to die in that pod. I wouldn't let you, I refused to give up."
Komaeda looked back up to meet his determined mismatched eyes.
"That's why I don't want you to belittle yourself, Komaeda. You are useful, you aren't stupid, trash- or whatever dumb insult you want to call yourself. You're smart, lucky as fuck, and deserve a second chance like all of us."
Hajime warily smiled at Komaeda hoping his words got through, and the brunet was happy to see Komaeda genuinely smile back. A small dust of pink decorated Komaeda's cheeks, Hajime took mental note of the very look that made something stir inside him.
"Sorry for that spiel, you're usually the one with a mountain of things to say, but I can't say I've actually had a moment to tell you all of that." He let go of the blushing boy's hands and scratched the back of his own head, a habit in awkward moments.
Adoration would be an understatement he knew that damn well already, but how long could he let it stay that way? "Hehe, no it's okay. I'm glad you told me. I was actually just thinking of how much life may have been better if I made different choices in the Neo World Program. How maybe it would have been better if I just died first."
Hajime clicked his tongue and elbowed Komaeda playfully, "Hey, no! See, that's why I needed to tell you! You mean something to me at the very least, if that means something- I mean, I hope it does. Though, like- everyone else on this island cares about you too, so don't forget that. Because we, um." He was sweating profusely, and any eye contact was a forgotten possibility. The corner of the room just looked really cool to Hajime right now.
Komaeda throws Hajime an amused growing grin as the brunet obviously forgets how to speak clearly. Whoever said being the Ultimate Ultimate made you the perfect person in existence with no flaws in conversating was a flat-out liar. God, he was just too cute.
The scrambled man stole a glance at Komaeda who had crossed his arms in wait, "Fuck, I- uh. Yeah. You know what? Let's see if this damn thing finally works."
With a press of the button the both of them began to feel the relief of cool air entering the room. Hajime didn't remember this room being so hot, maybe the old building just at really good insulation. Standing side by side they both watched the AC start up, it was much easier than looking at each other.
"Hey Hinata-kun?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Thank you. Truly."
"...You're welcome."
Not a moment later sparks flew out of the AC followed by a familiar sounding line of beeps going off, both boys knowing immediately what it meant. The faint smell of burning made its way out of the AC and into the room as lights struggled to stay on, alerting Hajime even more than before as smoke followed suit.
"Shit-" Hajime spat out before reaching to his right to grab Komaeda's left arm and pull him into his embrace, other hand shielding the cloud of hair from stray sparks that left the smoking AC unit. The room had been enveloped in black as the building short circuited, embers from the AC unit setting the nearby rug on fire. Hajime shuffled away from the rug, pulling the man in his arms with him. Before they knew it the only light available to them was the growing flames from the AC. Komaeda opened his eyes to be greeted with Hajime's collarbone lightly lit by the warm flickering fire for a brief moment, his eyes leading up and finding what could only be a determined expression painted on Hajime's face. He hadn't had a moment to exactly see what followed after the lights vanished, but in place of what could be the pleasure of being up to speed, the sight only filled him with paralyzing dread. Campfires, stoves, other controlled sources of fires hadn't caused a reaction like this out of him since waking. The memories of his mistakes inside what should have been buildings of safety and security came with panic and a loss of even breathing, and the fire didn't make it any easier to intake clean air.
The lack of movement within Hajime's arms filled the brunet with sudden worry. The only reasurement Komaeda hadn't passed out in his knightly hold were the small shivers and raspy inhales through his mouth. Hajime lightly shook Komaeda by his shoulders until he could find Hajime's one-of-a-kind eyes in the dimly lit room.
"Hey Komaeda, look at me. I'm here this time." Komaeda responded with a large gulp and a hum of understanding, "Stay close and follow me, okay?" Hajime quickly ran his right hand down Komaeda's shoulder to find his hand and intertwine their fingers.
Leading him hand in hand, Hajime pulled him over to the lit rug and effortlessly smeared the flames out with a slide of his foot. If Komaeda didn't know any better, he'd say the action was close to that of a magic trick, not a single trace of fire left on the once lit rug. Before they knew it the AC unit had flared, flames growing and the boys' concerns with it. Grip on the albino's hand increasing, Hajime swiftly walked over to what Komaeda could only assume was the office's door.
Throwing the door open Hajime yelled, "Souda! Fire!"
Conveniently, the power had flickered back on at that moment and Souda with it, quickly tripping out of the dining room and into the office ready with a fire extinguisher. Hajime reached out with his hand ready to take the red canister and extinguish the flames himself. But much to his surprise Souda had already gone ahead, aimed the extinguisher, and effectively stopped the fire before it could possibly harm anything outside of its already ten-foot radius. All exhaled with relief after it was clear and safe once again.
Souda set down the fire extinguisher and dusted his hands off, "Woo! That is why we bring the safety box! Alright, I need to look at that one again, that's entirely my bad."
"Glad I brought this thing just in case." Souda lightly taps the used extinguisher with his foot, making it fall to the wooded floor with a thunk and roll off a bit.
He had tried to catch it as it fell, chuckling at his misfortune and choosing to instead dust off his hands and the embarrassment with claps. Souda moves his head every which way, trying to spot any damage done by the red canister as it rolls away.
"Err, hope that didn't crack the floor. Anyway, you two okay?". The Mechanic turned around to face the two with hands on his hips, what a hero the man was.
"We're fine. The rug caught on fire, nothing to cry over though. I'll contact the Future Foundation about the AC problem, but we don't really use this building anyway." Hajime raised his empty hand to his chin and looked over at the burnt rug in thought.
He didn't know. Souda directed his wide-eyed focus to Komaeda, hoping to get a reaction out of the fact Hajime could see the blantly obvious. Naturally the albino was staring down with wide eyes and wiggling his fingers, closing and opening them as much as he possibly could in awe. Nodding pink hair flew out of the beanie as the hat was used in lame attempt to hide his grin.
"Go ahead and take that unit down and toss it when you're done checking out why it malfunctioned. As long as the others work fine after what just happened we can keep them up, but make sure to leave a fire extinguisher somewhere handy in the building just in case another AC does this."
Souda stifled a laugh at the display before him. Komaeda brung his prosthetic hand up to cover his mouth, hoping to hide the biggest smile he's ever worn without the need to mask an emotion. He looked to Souda really quick to make sure he wasn't dreaming and what he saw was real. Souda nodded swiftly in affirmation, laughter breaking through the beanie a little.
"If anything, we can probably now run all AC units at the same time since we won’t be overworking the electricity as much, though I wouldn't test it for obvious reasons. Welp, for the most part everything works minus this one, so I'd say we ‘fix’ed what we could for today."
Hajime shot Souda a glare and put his fist on his hip before leaning forward mockingly, "Alright, what's so funny?"
His soul bro's concealed toothy grin continued to hold the beanie as he pointed to the absolutely floored albino. Hintata followed Komaeda's stare to their still conjoined hands. At the drop of a hat Hajime's face had absolutely flushed in a deep red that Komaeda was sure could put the brunet's infamous eye to shame. Souda finally burst out laughing, hands holding his knees to keep him steady and on his feet.
Slipping his hand out of Komaeda's grasp he begins backing up out of the room. Hajime's back hits the door frame stopping him in his tracks and jostling the words free that were stuck in his throat.
"OH. Um, sorry. I'm- I'm going to go get a drink at the diner. The uh, fire! Yeah, the fire and smoke, it made me a bit parched. Souda I trust you to clean up, right? Good. Um, Komaeda?"
Komaeda looks up and tilts his head inquisitively at Hajime, a wobbly smile still plastered on his face from complete overjoy.
"YEAH. I-I'll find you later." and with that he slips out of the office and speed walks out of the old building.
Wiping a tear from his eyes, Souda sighs in content.
Komaeda drifts his eyes away from the back that grew smaller, the back that belonged to the most flustered brunet on the island. He looks at Souda, who was trying his best to fixate his beanie back onto his head multiple times, but eventually giving up and just holding it.
"Wow, that was somethin' else!" with a quick brush off he picks up the empty fire extinguisher that rolled off, "Alrighty, I gotta go and clean stuff up here. You can go home or do whatever it is you do now, follow Hajime maybe? I don't know, but thanks to the both of you for the helpin' out!"
"We truly didn't do much though. In fact, I'm pretty sure my luck had something to do with the power outage and faulty AC." Komaeda watched Souda almost drop the empty extinguisher right on his own bright yellow shoes as he walked towards him, "So if anything, I probably made this situation worse."
"Dude, didn't we like, just talk about this?" Aggravated half lidded eyes look up at Komaeda, the stress of having to repeat himself and treat the empty canister like a pendulum was killing the mechanic, "No self-deprecating crap man! Helped or not it's always nice to talk to ya, even though you kinda talk in riddles sometimes."
Komaeda closed his eyes and simply responded with a low chuckle. He watched as Souda wobbled out of the room like a crab, one would have thought the man would have a little more muscle on him, but it was far from his place to insult.
"Shit in this building is so old and wack anyway, a lot of tech on the island is outdated. We honestly should have replaced these AC units with new ones to begin with, but don't matter now cause' at least we tried em' out before even tossing em'." he leaned over to place the empty container outside by the frame of the office door, "What's the crap you spout about hope? Like, isn't this kind of it? Having hope that something works out even if it probably won't? Agh, you get my point."
A brief look of shock takes over, hazy green eyes open a slight more in surprise.
"No, you're right Souda. It's a little strange that you of all people had to remind me about hope multiple times today. I apologize, I'm not entirely myself."
"Heh heh, don't worry I can see that you're not on your A game today for sure!" he had started to make his way back to the dining room before an idea hit, "Yo, why don't you find something to eat? Maybe go get a drink with Hajime? I saw you didn't eat or drink much this morning, that could be what's trippin' you up."
"It could be. I appreciate the suggestion; I just might do that." Komaeda was glad Souda couldn't read far enough into facial expressions to call him out on his lies, though he wasn't entirely wrong.
And with that the pink-haired man threw Komaeda a pair of thumbs up that went straight into the air as he busted into the dining room by thrusting backwards to open the doors. Komaeda could swear he heard his friend falling on his ass and laughing at his own pain from his ingenious decision, he silently hoped the style points was worth the pain. Maybe it was a bit of a stretch to believe the ramblings of a man that just double checked that gravity exists, but if Hajime said his class has turned a new leaf for him then surely it had to be true. With those thoughts in mind, he happily walked out of the old building, new memories rewriting old ones.
"It's just because we were close to each other." he took a giant gulp of a sports drink Akane recommended to him, "That's seriously it, it has to be. It was just embarrassment because of close proximity. I'd get like that with anyone!"
She had told him he needed to 'stay hydrated or else', whatever 'else' was he didn't want to find out. Didn't matter anyway he liked the taste of it, and it helped keep him hydrated during the humid tropical days.
"'Didn't matter' yes that's it, it didn't matter." He closed his eyes as he continued to ramble out loud to himself, walking along the bridge to the third island at a slow pace.
It was nice to admire the island and how all of it was theirs now, their home. Granted it was a little strange how each island had their own little unique environment to upkeep in different ways, but all of it was theirs in this broken world. It was also nice because now Hajime had time to think back on what he'd done today without interruption. Just the calming winds and his turbulent thoughts about his very normal friend and the very normal events of today. Hajime leaned onto the railing of the bridge, bottle in his arms as he let the breeze cool him down before he resumed playing detective.
"It doesn't matter because it was an accident!" Hajime's hands rose to the sky in exclamation, he found the reason for why he was so flustered earlier in the old building- and for sure this time!
Effortlessly the bottle was snatched off the railing before tipping over and diving into the ocean below. Hajime began walking at a normal pace, he didn’t have the time to stop and smell the roses, he was already late.
Hands slid into his hair from collective stress and in doing so reminded him of something else that plagued him, "...Okay we can call what happened in the fire an accident, but what about when I ruffled his hair? Just, I wasn't thinking?" He stops walking for a moment to catch up with his own running thoughts, "You know what, let's not jump to the next problem. Still figuring out the weirder thing I did."
"Like, I didn't want him to catch on fire, that would have been fucking horrible. I was just trying to keep him safe! By weaving our hands and... pullinghimclosetomybody- GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!" he pulls his hands back down and sinks his face into his palms, bottle held by its loop ringed in-between fingers. Hajime moans, struggling to make logical sense of his own actions.
Palms slid over the railing of the bridge as he walked off it, "At least he didn't hate me for any of it, I don't think? Just kind of stood there, and stared at me, and smiled...”
'He looked cute.'
The bottle holding Hajime's sports drink was dropped onto the cracked island pavement then swiftly picked back up once he realized his grip was lost, "Wait, h-he what? Did I just think Komaeda looked cute?"
And for a second Hajime considered the otherworldly possibility. The one that began to make more sense as he flipped through each Komaeda related memory that he could remember. Figures they'd make Kamukura have photographic picture perfect auditorial memory, each one was flawless, a high definition recording he forgot to re-watch. Before opening the door to the Titty Typhoon, he remembered how the lucky student had cared so much for him in the simulation, even after Komaeda claimed he didn't. Was he really that dense? He shook his head violently side to side as if that would make the thoughts go away. Love wasn’t the answer, right?
Hajime loudly exhaled as his grip on the handle tightened, "I'm getting way ahead of myself."
Without the energy to throw open a door like he did earlier, he quietly made his way into the building and took one more drink out of his bottle as he walked through, door shutting itself behind him silently. The bottle, empty and see through, made Hajime realize he was not alone. A blur of white and green visible through the plastic against the red of the stage curtain and strewn about black metal chairs. His next few actions were done with care for how much sound he made as he could not believe what he witnessed. Slowly removing the bottle from his lips and placing it near the door, Hajime took cautious steps towards what he could begin to define as Ibuki listening to Komaeda sing a song he'd never heard before.
The two of them were on the stage, not just Ibuki. Komaeda in a chair facing away from the door, sitting upright. Ibuki sitting backwards in her own with her head laying comfy on her folded arms, watching with big eyes and a smile as she lets Nagito sing his heart out, her knees wiggling in joy. Her eyes had met Hajime's for a singular moment before winking and going back to watching Komaeda. Hajime listened to the words that were softly sung acapella in the empty club.
The lyrics themselves and the smooth voice that carried them had hit Hajime in the form of the most bittersweet realization. Feelings he should have realized long ago showing face and making him feel ridiculously idiotic. Granted a good number of the lyrics bordered the line of safe and okay for the public ear but he didn't really care, everything just made perfect sense now. All the nerves- tension, the words that couldn't leave his mouth without a stutter or two when either spoke, and why touching just felt natural. After day one on the island in the simulation he should have known- it got more obvious as time went on too, was he truly this dense? He sighed, running his hand up the side of his face and into his hair, staying there as his expression revealed painful affection. The otherworldly possibility wasn’t at all as absurd as he originally thought, and he didn’t hate it. What a way to discover he was completely wrong and blind to the obvious though. His heart threatened to race so fast he could physically feel it without the need to focus in on it. How long had Komaeda gone through this kind of feeling?
Hajime considered walking closer than halfway to the stage, but at this point he could hear clear enough. In fact, he could hear so well his heart ached the more Komaeda sang. This was a song Komaeda had written himself, maybe it was a bit presumptuous, but Hajime was pretty sure it was about him. Hajime wanted to be closer, maybe even in more ways than one but his confidence had seemed to abandon him. Screw it. As Komaeda’s song came to an end Hajime sucked it up and tried his best to act cool. He walked forward faster than his entry, cradling his head in his hands once he softly set his elbows on the stage and looked up at Komaeda from the side.
He gulped down saliva, hoping it would clear his throat without the need to cough, "I didn't know you could sing. You sound amazing!" Hajime’s voice had cracked the moment he opened his mouth despite his best efforts.
Komaeda jumped out of his seat, the chair he had been sitting calmly in caught by Hajime before it fell off the stage. Hands had gone up and out of his way as he looked over his shoulder and down to reassure himself that he indeed heard Hajime. A flush spread across the albino's cheeks slowly as he registered that Hajime was witness to not only his singing, but his own original song no less.
Seemed the initial shock of realizing he had an audience had saved Hajime from embarrassment on being called out on his nervous crackling voice.
"RIGHT?! I was curious if Nagito-chan had any history with music. He said he could kind of sing, so Ibuki told him to go ahead and show me! He didn't want to at first, but who knew he'd be able to sing like a pro though!" Ibuki rocked her seat left and right in excitement. She was going to fall over in a chair someday, Hajime swore it.
"She's right, you do sound like a pro. I liked the song too, Komaeda." Hajime used his forearms to lift himself up onto the stage to sit as his legs dangled. Once situated, he looked back up to stare directly into Komaeda’s eyes with the smallest smile on his face.
Komaeda dusted himself off and took a breath before even thinking about speaking.
"Thank you, both of you. I cannot possibly be as good as the ultimate musician, but I truly appreciate the encouragement." He bowed his head briefly before walking to the edge of the stage to kneel down and retrieve his chair from the floor.
Ibuki gave him a raspberry and waved away at Komaeda's inability to accept a genuine compliment.
"Oh pish posh! I'm good at my amazing rockin' songs that I make myself and jam out to, and you're good at your own kind of Nagito-like music. I don't think I could ever sing or write stuff in a genre like that, so Ibuki agrees with Hajime that you're really cool!"
"You have such a way with words, Ibuki." Hajime lays his back down on the stage, arms splayed out on the stage as he rests in momentary content.
"I'm simply a poet in disguise, my dear Watson!" She adjusts her air glasses with her index and thumb.
Hajime chuckled at her antics before jumping out of his relaxation and back up onto the stage. Finally finding his energy again just after the massive amount of emotions that made his heart and mind feel heavier than he'd ever think possible.
He walked over to pat Ibuki’s back, “Alright detective, go get your guitar. That way we can tune it and you can get back to your ‘rocking out’.”
She gasped, shooting up in her backwards facing chair, she gripped the back and wiggled out of it, “OH. OH! I LEFT IT IN THE STORAGE CLOSET IN IT’S CASE! HOLD ON LEMMEFINDITI’LLBERIGHTBACK!”
Before the two boys on stage could say anything or even warn her, she jumped off the stage and sprinted into the nearby storage room, almost tripping over the amp wires on stage. The brunet reached for the mess of cords, all were disconnected from the amps and speakers nearby, so it was just a hazard. It took Hajime a second to piece together- or rather separate what she had exclaimed, considering the end of her sentence had just been jumbled words. Both of them had giggled at her spontaneous decisions, she was always a great source of comedic relief, but it couldn't prevent the natural tension in the room that came with her absence. He was about to ask Komaeda for confirmation on what Ibuki had just exclaimed as a conversation starter, but it was just really hard to talk to him one-on-one at the moment. Hajime closed his open mouth, brain unable to formulate a sentence that wouldn’t make things even more awkward. With most of the cords rolled up and placed near their respective device, Hajime’s hands began to sweat as he fiddled aimlessly with the end of the last aux cord. The room had grown hot so suddenly, and any ultimate ability that could help him with the simple act of speaking had never felt so out of reach before.
He had to try something. It could be a question relating to how he got here before him, it could be about how Ibuki was a bit reckless, maybe even about how it was nice of Komaeda to clean up all the chairs on stage. Komaeda actually had a question for him earlier, he could start with that! It didn’t have to be about the song he just heard him sing, right? It didn’t have to be about how thinking about Komaeda or saying his name made his heartbeat pick up and face flush red, right? He especially didn’t have to mention how any form of physical contact with Komaeda just made him the biggest nervous wreck, right? No, he didn’t but-
“Um, Hinata-kun? You’ve been fidgeting since Mioda left, and your ears have gone red. Are you okay? My singing wasn’t so bad that it gave you a headache, did it? I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned that I took vocal lessons as a child to her.” he had put away the last unnecessary chair back where the rest were stacked near the curtains, “I’m so sorry you had to witness that. I couldn’t deny Mioda’s request since she was so persistent in hearing my singing.” Komaeda looked up and over at Hajime. The circles the brunet was rubbing into his eyes made him warry- hesitant even, to open his mouth at all.
This was exactly why he had to think of something to say before Komaeda did.
“No- Komaeda, your singing was great. I wasn’t kidding earlier, I liked it. A lot. I just uh, don’t know how to express how much I like it I guess?”
He was so smooth earlier when he made his presence known, where did his confidence go when he needed it most? The cloud of hair moved with his inquisitive head tilt, Hajime wondered what it felt like, he didn’t get a chance to take note earlier.
“You’ve already said you liked my singing a lot, I’m honored to hear you think that way and to even be able to talk to you this much." he folded his arms and thought to himself for a moment, "In fact, you’ve taken time out of your busy day to entertain my self-indulgent and meaningless request to accompany you and it's thrilling, but I think I've overstayed my welcome now. ”
Hajime’s head was shaken violently along with any semblance of nervousness that previously plagued him, all being replaced by mild irritation. Komaeda was spouting nonsense and insulting himself again and Hajime was absolutely done with it- his patience near depleted, especially after he gained clarity from today's events. No, this was going to end now. No more awkward tension and stares of needless anxiety due to unspoken words.
He locks eyes with the boy across the stage in mild annoyance and confusion, “What? I don't get it, 'self-indulgent'? 'Overstayed'? And when did I ever say your request was 'meaningless'? I told you it was fine to follow me for the day, and just like I expected, no harm came from it anyway.”
Komaeda brings his hands together- mechanical and real, hiding his mouth and his mouth alone as he breaks eye contact. The aux cord in Hajime’s hand is gripped into his newly formed fist.
“You end up finding me almost on a daily basis when I’m out and about, and even when you do you don’t say anything other than a ‘hello’ then ‘goodbye’ after you stick around for like five minutes! I thought you were purposely avoiding me until today if I’m being entirely honest.”
White hair begins to block most of Komaeda’s face as Hajime goes on.
“I even tried in the past to find you and talk about things that we’ve needed to iron out and discuss since I woke you up! But you always had something to do. Some excuse to walk away from me anytime I brought up the past when it was just us.” He exhaled, but it unexpectantly came out strained and airy, “I don’t get it, Komaeda. Do you want to be friends again? Or do you still hate me like you did in the Neo World Program and this is just some form of spite? What was even the question you wanted to ask me earlier?”
Silence pierced the air. Hajime clicked his tongue and was about to pivot and jump off the stage to see what was taking Ibuki so long, before he heard a shaky inhale from a few feet away.
“I-I don’t have the right to call someone like you a friend Hinata-kun. I don’t have the right to waste your time and follow you like today, because I don’t deserve a single second of your time.”
The brunet turns back around and takes a warry step forward in futile attempt to squint and see under the mass of cloud that is Komaeda’s hair. However, his act of curiosity was all for naught, Komaeda had whipped his head back up, brows creased but crescent in woe as small tears decorated the sides of his eyes.
“I am but a lowly fool who believed in a book provided by our own maniacal mutual killings host! Haha, I almost got all of us killed for good- never to return from the dead, all because I trusted the information Monokuma gave me in that final dead room without a second thought!"
Komaeda began slowly walking forward towards Hajime. Wooden stage boards below them creaking with every step taken, the lucky student’s own voice cracking here and there as he went on.
"I read that my classmates and my closest friend were walking representatives of despair, and I didn’t hesitate to consider dragging us all down into hell.” Hands waved around the air, each movement briming with overwhelming expression.
Both flesh and mechanical hands formed into fists, pulled to his chest, tears built more the tighter arms and their grip got. Punctuation and impact behind words just as expressive and powerful just much as Komaeda’s own face had gotten over time. The sight of tears threatening to finally roll down the albino’s cheeks became clearer the closer he got to the brunet. Hajime continued stand still and had laxed his grip on the cord in his hand, he had a blank intimidating expression but a patient one none the less. Komaeda went on since Hajime gave him the silence necessary.
“I’m a fucking idiot, Hinata-kun. I’m absolute garbage, a waste of space and air more than I’ve ever been- an idiot that doesn’t deserve a single second of your time." through his blurred vison he could see the slightest jump in Hajime's frame, the brunet shocked at his use of profane language.
"Not just because you’re a fabricated Ultimate with every ability at your disposal, but because I could have killed you.”
A single tear fell to the ground and feet came to a wobbly halt in front of Hajime. Nagito’s signature put together demeanor had finally broken, the thought of the next words he’d let leave his mouth made him crumble, words comming out with a whine.
“I-I want to be around you like I did then and more, Hinata-kun.”
One by one tears had given in and began falling onto the stage, their rate increasing once Komaeda bowed his head in shame and wrapped his arms around himself.
“I want to be your friend just as much as I did then. I want you to stay just as much as I did then and more because-, because I like you! That was my stupid question. It wasn't a question at all, but I didn't know how to break any of this to you."
His legs began to give, the more he confessed the harder it became to stand. The longer he went on without hearing a word out of Hajime, the deeper his heart sank in fear.
"You heard the song, I wrote it and I meant every line in it. I-I didn't mean for you to hear it, and even if you don't like me back, I don’t want you to leave me. A-and regardless of what you feel, I’m glad you woke me up from the program- overjoyed beyond humanely possible! I just couldn't keep acting as if I was ignoring you out of some form of resentment. My feelings are worthless to someone as busy and important as you, but I-”
Before Komaeda could even move his lips to form another self-deprecating word or use his hand to wipe a tear away, a thin black cord had looped around the middle of his back. With a sudden pull he had been forced to arch and stumble forward, falling straight into Hajime's chest. The cord was abandoned immediately once it served it's purpose, comforting arms wrapping around Komaeda, squeezing him just hard enough to make the tears stop falling. With a hand under the hood of his jacket and other resting in the small of his back, Hajime rested his chin on the taller's shoulder comfortably.
"H-Hinata-kun, what-"
"I like you too, and I still like the song."
Komaeda freezes at the words for a moment before a few tears come back only to get smothered into Hajime's iconic white dress shirt. Hands make their way hesitantly around the brunet to return the hug, looping around his midsection. The two let the silence and comfort become their world until questions are absolutely necessary, both taking pleasure in being able to hear and feel the each other's wild heart beats.
"Are you absolutely sure though, Hinata-kun? I never thought you'd ever feel the same, this could be some kind of mistake or mislabel of your thoughts."
Hajime could feel Komaeda's mouth against his shoulder, it sent chills down his spine. "It wasn't until today that I realized it, but you've made me feel things I never did for anyone else in my life. Ever since you woke me up in the Neo World Program you've been in my thoughts way more than a normal 'friend' should be."
Komaeda hummed softly in response.
"Honestly, I should have realized the feelings I had for you were more than just things you'd feel for a friend a long time ago. I'm sorry I took so long to piece together the most obvious shit ever."
The lucky student chuckled lowly as he raised his head to meet the reassuring gaze of his admirer, arms now set to rest on his shoulders and absentmindedly flicking his ahoge. Hajime jokingly glared at him with a grin in response, the brunet's own palms unwrapping around Komaeda to rest on his face as he carefuly thumbs away the remains of any tears.
Disbelief strong as ever, Komaeda rolls his eyes and throws a brow up at Hajime despite their current position, "As long as you know what you're getting into with my luck. Though you should seriously reconsider the thought of even returning my feelings, Hinata-kun."
Hajime's grip tightens on the sides of Komaeda's face just the slightest bit, irritated his feelings he spent painful hours thinking over are just about to be swept under the rug because of Komaeda's insecurities. Komaeda notices this change in strength and goes back to looking forward into Hajime's eyes lacking belief unwavering as he keeps his skeptical expression.
"Excuse me for being presumptuous, but if by any chance this is purely out of pity, then it is extremely unnecessary to go through such efforts for trash like m-"
"Oh my fucking god, shut up already."
Hajime cuts him off effectively as he crashes his lips into Komaeda's, the other smiling into it in amusement and bliss as Hajime shatters every single one of his doubts. Feeling firm hands grip his waist, Komaeda bends his arms to pull Hajime impossibly closer by the back of the neck. Low moans had begun to leave both of their throats the moment the kiss was returned only to get louder after the two gasped for air. It's chaste and anything but intimate or filling to Komaeda, but he still revels in the fact Hajime tastes just like he imagined and more. He slides his tongue over Hajime's bottom lip and lightly bites down on it tasting even more of what he can only describe as the pure cradling warmth of the sun. Hajime opens his eyes halfway and does his best to give Komaeda a disapproving look as the albino holds his bottom lip hostage in-between his teeth with a grin.
"Oi, this is not the place to do that." Hajime whispers, cheeks and ears painted red and screaming the exact opposite of what his words seem to imply.
Komaeda releases the reddened lip, but continues to linger close with foreheads still touching, "I still need to help Ibuki, Komaeda."
The next thing Komaeda chooses to do absolutely sends Hajime's heart pounding and eyes blown wide as the boy sticks out his entire tongue mockingly and gives him a sultry look. The grip Hajime keeps on Komaeda's hips tightens in panic, tempted to absolutely throw the man to his right behind the stage curtain and give him what he wants. With a bite of his top lip, he inhales and in one swift motion; takes Komaeda's hood, pulls it over his mess of hair, then pulls the strings as far as they could go without damaging his precious jacket.
The ultimate lucky student laughs through an ear to ear smile all more or less concealed by the white mass of hair he can barely see through. Stray hairs and curls bounced with each airy laugh, the tension was gone and both were clearly happy to finally get what felt like the weight of the world off their chests.
"Aww, Hinata-kun!" he blindly searches for the red strings that keep his hood tightened and his vision impaired, "But it was just getting good!"
"That's what you get for trying to call me a liar! I like you and I mean it!" Hajime chuckles before cradling Komaeda's hooded head and leaning forward to peck the blinded boy on the lips, "Later, not now. I promise."
Komaeda freezes with his hood strings in both hands before recomposing himself with a smile and replying with content, "Alright, Hinata-kun."
"Hajime."
He shakes his head as he manages to pop out of his jacket hood, "Huh?"
Hajime reaches out to move a few white strands of hair out of his face before carding a hand through it to see him even better, "Would be a little weird if my boyfriend called me by my family name, don't you think? I mean- if you want to be- and you know, if I can call you 'Nagito'. Kind of assumed you would, but-"
"That would be more than okay with me, Hajime. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me for anything..." Hajime turns to start walking towards the stairs of the stage.
Walking a step behind, he reaches for Hajime's dangling left hand, lightly grabbing it.
"No, I mean, thank you. For everything you've done."
Hajime weaves their fingers together and squeezes Nagito's hand as they step off the stairs and walk towards the storage closet.
"Don't worry about it. I did it all because I wanted to."
A muted electric guitar chord rang out, "IBUKI FOUND A DIGITAL GUITAR TUNER! ALL IS SAVED! IBUKI TUNED HER OWN GUITAR CORRECTLY!"
The doors to the storage room had busted open so fast that they had almost hit Hajime, but the whiplash reminder of Ibuki being in the same building as the two hit a little harder. Hajime took quite a moment and more to come up with something to say, opening and closing his mouth a few times and earning an inquisitive Ibuki head tilt in response-
"That's fantastic Ibuki! As expected of the Ultimate Musician! Were you able to find your guitar in that mess of a room?" Hajime rubbed a thumb over Komeda's, thankful he was able to cover for him.
The doors finally shut themselves behind Ibuki with a soft click as she rambled, "Yooo, like- that place was such a mess Ibuki cleaned it just a tiiiny bit. Ibuki found her guitar quick, but for some reason one of the strings snapped! Swear Ibuki just changed it too, so Ibuki tore up the storage room looking for strings then cleaned it once the box of strings was found. One less thing for Hajime-chan to do!"
'So that's what was taking her so long, how lucky for us.' the two boys thought.
Hajime scratched the back of his head with his free hand, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he didn't think to clean that room sooner.
"Oh, wow. That's very thoughtful of you Ibuki, but you didn't need to do it for my sake in particular. I'm glad that place is clean, and you can find things easier but-"
"Oh, Pffft. Ibuki wanted to do it because she wanted to, but we all know you work too hard to keep the island sparkly clean and working to one hundred percent perfection. We all want to help you, Hajime-chan! You need to chillax and let us handle some things! Ain't that right, Nagito-chan?" her guitar moved with her, hanging from the strap across her body as she rocked forward and back on her heels, hands clasped behind her back.
Nagito bumped into Hajime playfully, "Yeah Hajime, you're not allowed to do all the work while we are here. Please do rely on us a little more."
"Sorry, it's something I need to get used t-" Hajime's reply was cut short as Ibuki let out a squeal and pointed down at the conjoined hands between the boys. The two winced, Komaeda rubbing his ear with his palm from the Ultimate Musician's piercing note.
With a gasp she finally found her words, "IS TODAY THE DAY? DO MY EYES DECIEVE ME? MY EARS HEARD FIGHTING EARLIER FROM THE STORAGE ROOM, BUT WAS IT SIMPLY A PLAY?! Are Hajime-chan and Nagito-chan a thing?!"
Hajime looked over to Nagito with an unspoken question in mind, getting a soft closed eyed nod in return. They raised their woven hands to show Ibuki clearly.
The brunet inhaled, bracing himself. "Yes, Nagito is my boyfriend now. The yelling you probably heard earlier was us working out some things that we really needed to talk about for a long time."
Yet another affirmative nod from Nagito was all Ibuki needed, "IBUKI MUST TELL THE OTHERS!"
She jogged in place ready to take off, until-
"Oh, right! Because Ibuki found the electric guitar tuner in the storage, you can go hang out with Nagito-chan aaall you want now!" she winked at the two of them, making Hajime turn a little pink, "Thank you both for coming to help though!"
"Oh, um. Anytime Ibuki!" Hajime yelled as she sprinted off at top speed towards who knows where, the both of them smiling warily in concern for her safety.
Nagito effortlessly slipped his hand out of Hajime's and threw his arms around his chest from behind once the venue's doors had shut behind Ibuki.
"Hey, Hajime. It's 'later'." Nagito whispered into his ear and gave it a quick kiss before lazily resting his head on Hajime's shoulder.
A crimson color swiftly flooded into Hajime's face, "NOT HERE!"
Hajime struggled out of his boyfriend's surprising death grip and swiftly walked out of the venue. The love-struck albino never again farther than a step behind him so they could walk hand in hand wherever and whenever.