#(but yeah; detailed enough to form a coherent timeline but not so much that i'm in a box is what i'm going for)

[hcpefulmarshmallow]

Let’s talk about Nagito’s family, because in this house, we like to suffer, I guess. I’ve toyed with a few different ideas and themes, some of which I eventually encountered too many errors in to keep, and some which I ultimately decided work. Everything below will henceforth serve as the official basis for how I portray family ties and Ko’s past on this blog, and I’ll try to be as matter-of-fact about it as I can, but...you know me. It’s worth mentioning that I’m not judging anyone’s real-life situation, nor am I judging anyone else’s interpretation of how Ko’s life went down. Interpretation first, reasoning another time if you really want to stick around for that hot mess. I tried to be as self-explanatory as I could, and linked back to my own posts in places that needed it, but if there’s anything that I feel is worth delving into later, I will. I kinda wanted to make something that ties into and explains who he is now, and ties as seamlessly as I can manage into what he’s told us; but also sounds exactly like the kind of thing that’d happen to this poor bastard, if you know what I mean. 

Hc: Nagito’s parents were very well-off, hard-working and successful. However, they were also very distant - from their son and their own respective families - and cold. They had Nagito not because they especially wanted children per se, but rather to have someone to pass on their name and legacy. Being the type of people to care a lot about status, they wanted their child to grow up to be every bit as intelligent, well-respected and successful as them. Intelligent, he certainly was, and without ever really trying; but Nagito never had much interest in what his parents did. Like most little boys, he wanted to do something cool and exciting. A big part of his childhood was spent wanting to be a pilot, but that’s hardly an elite job, now, is it?

 Rather than see if he grows out of it, or better yet accept their son for who he is, Nagito’s parents actively discouraged him from anything they didn’t approve of by shunning him until and unless he acted the way they wanted him to; perfect, polite, smart, and most of all, unemotional. They would dismiss his feelings and ignore his various attention-grabbing escapades; and this on top of their busy work schedules lead Nagito to believe he was just an inherently bad child. That, and how his parents would look down on non-elites; instilling the worthy and worthless mindset in their son, as well as his belief that you shouldn’t try if you know you’ll fail. 

 Nagito felt helpless to drop his interests for them. No matter how much he studied and tried to change his mind, he couldn’t change his heart. He continued to like dogs, and planes, and childish things. He felt doomed to disappoint, leading him to believe that worth is instilled at birth, and if you are worthless, there’s nothing you can do. He coupled himself with lowly trash, and thus began his worship of those made for greatness, and those who achieve greatness despite their hangups. Over time, this developed into the warped obsession with talent we all know of. 

 Nagito’s parents eventually caved to their son’s constant harping for a pet, seeing it as a chance to perhaps make him mature a bit, and certainly to get him off their tails all the time. Being a kid who didn’t make friends easily and was left to his own devices a lot - only adding to his perceived inadequacies - he treasured his new companion like the most precious thing in the world. And, well, we all know how that played out. 

 He named the dog Lucky - because irony’s a bitch - and he was the first thing to show such undying love and loyalty to Nagito. What he couldn’t get from his parents; comfort, support, attention; he got from his dog. This, of course, made the pup’s death, which Nagito always blamed himself for, all the more devastating, never mind the careless driver or lack of adult supervision. Since this was his first incident of major bad luck, a force which would go on to destroy everything he touches, he blames himself wholeheartedly for everything that followed. 

 After losing his best friend and emotional crutch, Nagito became severely depressed. He wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t even pick up a book. This lead to him becoming quite ill, and actually being hospitalised. After that health scare, his parents finally took notice of how terribly their son was suffering, and made an effort for the first time in his life. They didn’t become good parents overnight, but they tried. The odd pat on the shoulder here, a “how was your day?” there, even a family outing to an amusement park, which Nagito considers one of the best days of his childhood. 

 But the more time they spent with Nagito, the more things seemed to go wrong. Little things, like coffee spills ruining their expensive clothing, to big things like giant deals falling through. And these things only happened when he was around. Subconsciously or consciously, he still doesn’t know, they distanced themselves from him once more. This double-rejection was devastating, annihilating whatever self-worth the young elementary schooler still had. 

 The only reason they took him to San Cristóbal was due to a business retreat that encouraged families to come along. Appearances still meant more than anything. The trip itself was uneventful, but it was on the flight home that this plane-loving wannabe-pilot lost his mother and father, and gained a lifelong fear of flying, and a cemented suspicion that had been growing for some time now that all the bad things that kept happening were all his fault. All because of a meteor the size of a fist (that possibly caused the plane to crash; and personally I think he may have been a sole survivor).  

 After the deaths of his parents, Nagito was shunted from relative to relative, though understand that term is used in a strictly biological sense. Most of these people he’d met maybe once or twice, if at all. The freedom to which he so often refers to as a result of his parents dying is both freedom from being constantly afraid for his mother and father, but also freedom to do almost whatever he wanted. He was, essentially, a stranger to these people, who all already had their own lives and jobs and children. Nagito long suspected that the only reason anyone took him at all was because no one wants to be the asshole that won’t take in their orphaned kid cousin or nephew or whatever.

 (NB: My basis for that he had a lot of family but not many close friends, please recall; we see how his luck targets people close to him, yet he goes out of his way to mention that his luck only targeted him directly and gave him a terminal illness when he had no relatives left. His luck began in elementary school or possibly earlier when his dog died, and he was diagnosed right before entering Hope’s Peak. Personally, I think the idea of him having a lot of relatives he’s not close to makes sense, and it’d just be his luck that they’re all dickheads.)

 But of course, every time, something would happen. Some major disaster, and only ever when Nagito was around. And he would always benefit it in some way. He never goes into detail, but sometimes it involved a financial loss, sometimes a physical one, once or twice or maybe many more, even death. He quickly gained a reputation, and relatives became more and more reluctant to accept him. Furthermore, not a single aunt or uncle among them were especially loving. No one ever stopped to maybe ask this kid if he was okay, help him through his grief, ease his guilt or burden. He was no less an accessory than he’d ever been. Sometimes the family members were fine. They’d mostly ignore him, sometimes hold a conversation, until The Thing inevitably happened. Sometimes they were downright horrible. After a particularly violent episode with a drunk Uncle, Nagito ran, and that’s when he was found and kidnapped. 

 After that, he was deemed a troubled child, and placed in a home. The other children isolated him; this strange kid that strange things happened around, with a penchant for mumbling to himself. He never really minded. They were just like the rest of the people he’d known -- filler, and nothing more. Eventually he, fell ill. This was when he received his terminal diagnosis, and shortly after, acceptance letter into Hope’s Peak.