#but also I’m missing chiaki a great deal too

[decembermoonskz]

no thoughts head empty just voice of sword playing through my head all day

[springtimemultishipper]

Komanami Week Day 4: In-game

Summary | When separating to go explore the Funhouse, Nagito wishes to go exploring with Chiaki. She decides to use this opportunity to try to get to understand him. However...he proves to be able to bring out so many emotions in her..

❥ Pairing | Nagito Komaeda x Chiaki Nanami

★ Word Count | 4,217 words

@c0rrupted-mov

*Wooo! I finally have Day 4 out! I'm so sorry this was late! Like I said, school is really trying to prevent me from posting these, but I made a commitment and I'm sticking to it. Now then, this entry is based on the interaction in the game where Nagito wants to explore the Funhouse with Chiaki in Chapter 4 since I found that there's potential for it. Hopefully, Day 5 would be up by tomorrow if I'm lucky. But, for now, grab some snacks and enjoy! And sorry if there's any errors.*

'This is competing with the Despair Disease for the weirdest motive ever...I think,' Chiaki thought as she stared the tacky strawberry-patterned walls of the funhouse. Yep, that's right. Funhouse. For some reason, Monokuma decided that the fourth motive for murder was to place them all in some sort of weird funhouse with the ugliest decor ever. Chiaki was now wondering if he was just simply having fun with his motives or if he was going insane. Then again, he was probably always insane. Regardless, they were trapped here now and everyone was making groups to go and explore the house.

“Well Miss Sonia, I guess it’s time we also…” Kazuichi called out to her. Chiaki turned towards him with a deadpanning expression on her face. For some reason...she had a feeling that he wasn't going to get what he wanted.

“Sonia already left with Tanaka,” Mechamaru said, deciding to immediately break it to him. Yep, she was right. Now, to see how badly Kazuichi takes this.

“...huh?” Kazuichi gasped, slumping with wide eyes.

“Awww, you got dumped,” Nagito teased with an awkward chuckle. A bead of sweat dripped down from Chiaki’s forehead. She doesn’t think dumped was the right way to describe it. To be dumped meant that Kazuichi had to be in a relationship with Sonia in the first place. But, she wasn’t going to point that out.

“I-idiot! I didn’t get dumped! Why would I get dumped?! In fact, I’m really popular!” Kazuichi yelled, deep in denial. Chiaki sighed. Yep. He didn’t really take this too well. She was starting to feel bad for him at this point. She made a mental note to try to talk to him and have him deal with his “Sonia issues” later.

“Now then, I think it’s time for me to get going too, so…” Nagito’s voice trailed off for a second as he turned his head to Chiaki. “Nanami, would you like to go together?”

“....Me?” She questioned, tilting her head. This was…unexpected to say the least. She definitely wasn’t the first person that she would’ve expected Nagito to want to team up with. She wondered if he had some sort of secret reason for wanting to go with her specifically. Maybe he trusted that she could find clues quickly or maybe he wanted to try to figure out what her “hope” is? She doesn’t want to immediately jump to the conclusion that he was already planning something, but she knew that Nagito’s reasons were probably not that simple. After all, he has shown time and time again that he can be a very cunning and calculating guy, and his motivations are never that simple…

“I haven’t really had the chance to talk to you, so I thought this was a great opportunity…” he told her, answering her internal questions as if he could sense them..

‘…or his reason could be as straightforwardly innocent as that,’ Chiaki thought, suddenly feeling like a huge idiot. She supposed it was her karma for immediately assuming that he was up to something.. Well, she supposed it wouldn’t be that bad to explore with him. Yes, she may have to keep her guard up, but she doubts that he’ll try something immediately. So, there was no harm in giving him a bit of her trust.

Chiaki smiled slightly as she played with her hair. Plus…it was slightly flattering to know that Nagito wants to spend time with her…While a part of her is a little embarrassed to admit it, her heart was practically fluttering at all the possibilities that spending some time with Nagito could bring. Of course, she was mostly looking forward to a chance to possibly be able to understand Nagito, but still…she couldn’t help but be weirdly excited to explore the funhouse alone with him!

“Then…take me with you, too,” Kazuichi interrupted her thoughts, knocking all the possibilities to the water. “Three people is okay, right?”

Chiaki snapped herself out of her imagination by facepalming. ‘Get it together, Chiaki…you have more important things to worry about now.’ Although…she would be lying if she said that a small frown didn’t find its way to her face when Kazuichi made his suggestion.

“Huh? That’s fine, but…” Tension began to fill the air the moment that Nagito made his next sentence with a gentle smile. “Oh I get it! Soda’s trying to avoid Hinata!”

After Nagito let those troublesome rumor-like words escape his lips, hell broke loose. Chiaki felt her blood turn cold as she witnessed Hajime and Kazuichi arguing over the former’s trustworthiness. Kazuichi was saying stuff about them not knowing the real Hajime and how his personality could easily shift if or when he revealed himself as the traitor, like Mikan’s did in the previous trial. Hajime seemed so hurt by Kazuichi’s lack of trust in him, and Chiaki felt a wave of guilt wash over her as the topic of the traitor was brought up again. However, all she could do was watch.

“I’m sorry Hajime…I really do want to trust you…” Kazuichi said before turning away from him. “...But I just can’t yet. That’s why I’m going with Nanami...It’s not like…I want to go with Komaeda either.”

Hajime didn’t say anything to do that, and, instead, just glared at the ground. Kazuichi walked over to where Nagito and Chiaki were standing.

“If that’s the case, it is what it is,” Nagito shrugged. “Why don’t you come along with us, Soda?”

“Ah, but…” Chiaki shot Hajiime a concerned look as her sentence died down in her throat.

 “It’s fine, Nanami…” he reassured, though his tone didn’t really convey that message. “Just go…”

Once again, guilt spread across Chiaki’s body as she looked at the depressed look on Hajime’s face. She knew that Hajime wasn’t the traitor…she knew who it actually was. But, the truth was caught in her throat. She wanted to scream that she was the traitor and explain everything, but…she couldn’t. All she could do was give Hajime a look of sympathy as the key to getting everyone to trust each other clogged itself in her voice…

“Ok…” she finally said. “I’ll see you later.” She left Hajime standing there with Mechamaru as she, Nagito, and Kazuichi went down the stairs into the first floor. And once again…Chiaki was met with more tacky strawberry-patterned red walls that burned her eyes. Somebody really needed to teach Monokuma about interior design.

“Well, I suppose we better start looking around,” Nagito said cheerfully as he swept the floor. Chiaki didn’t say anything. She didn’t really feel like talking to neither him nor Kazuichi right now. Her eyes narrowed as she glared up at the hideous red walls of the funhouse. She couldn’t believe what happened earlier. Did Kazuichi really find it hard to trust Hajime? After everything they've been through as a team? Logically, she understands why he’s so hesitant. After all, they were, unfortunately, in an environment where even placing an ounce of trust in the wrong person could get you killed. Plus, after what happened with Mikan the last trial…it would be hard to trust anyone after that. But still…it was frustrating to see Kazuichi immediately fall for the idea that Hajime couldn’t be trusted. Didn’t anyone understand that they needed to work together to get out of here?

And Nagito…what was even the point of bringing it up? There was no reason for him to benefit from suggesting that Hajime was the traitor, so why did he? Did he…really believe it? Or was he just trying to stir up trouble? Chiaki could feel her fists clenching just from trying to figure out how his confusing head works. The moment she thinks she is starting to peg down his logic patterns and figure him out, he plays another card and leaves her back at level 1. It was a constant cycle! And on top of that…Chiaki was being reminded of those weird feelings that she felt when Nagito first asked her to go with him. That fluttering of her heart. Being flattered. That excitement from the idea of being alone with him. It all added to the equation of confusion.

Well, at least, she supposed that it was good that she and Nagito weren’t alone together. Things may have been really awkward then…though…she was still disappointed that Kazuichi was with them. 

Chiaki sighed, rubbing her temple. Nagito Komaeda really brought out a lot of her emotions, didn’t he?

“Hey, Nanami, did I make you upset?” A raspy voice whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She jumped slightly and turned around to see Nagito right behind her, a curious expression on her face. Speaking of the devil…

“You didn’t have to make people distrust Hinata by saying he’s the traitor,” Chiaki told him, crossing her arms. “Because it’s not true.”

“How do you know that?” Nagito questioned, smiling slightly. “When it comes to pre-existing information about him, there’s hardly any to dig into. We don’t even know about his Ultimate Talent. Surely, that has to be suspicious, right?”

‘I know because I’m the traitor…’ Instead of saying that, Chiaki just shook her head. “There’s no solid evidence of Hinata being the traitor. I think suspicion isn’t the same as certainty. So, considering that he’s my friend, I’m going to choose to trust him.”

Nagito didn’t say anything and, instead, turned away from Chiaki to observe the wall some more. Was it just her imagination…or was his usually carefree face looking a little sour right now?

“Well, I didn’t ask to partner with you to talk about whether or not Hinata’s the traitor,” Nagito said, forcefully changing the subject. “I want to get to know you, Nanami! Soda’s moved to another part of the first floor to find Sonia-I mean-explore! So, we have time to ourselves.”

Chiaki played with the sleeve of her jacket, her heart pounding. So, much for being grateful about not being alone with Nagito. Still, she shouldn’t let things get awkward. She looked up and nodded. “There’s a lot of things that I want to know about you, Komaeda. So, I guess there won’t be any harm in talking.”

Nagito grinned, keeping steady eye contact with her. “That’s what I like to hear, Nanami.”

Chiaki felt her pulse quicken slightly as Nagito’s gray eyes bore into her own pink ones, but she forced her expression to remain neutral. If she wanted to get any information out of Nagito, she had to remain calm. Not let any opportunities for him to catch her off guard slip in.

“There was something that I was wondering for a while now, Komaeda…” Chiaki said, walking away as she continued investigating. “You keep talking about wanting to side with hope whenever we’re in trials, but I’ve never really understood what that meant. One moment you would be helping us find the killer, and then the next, we find out that you were involved with the case somehow. So…what exactly do you get by playing double-agent?”

Nagito grinned at her, clearly showing excitement towards her curiosity. “Well…it’s rather complicated to explain, Nanami. So, it would be better if I just…described how important hope is to me. Nanami, would you describe it as a positive feeling? I mean, it allows us to be motivated to achieve so much more. When we have hope, we’re able to reach happiness, our goals, and it’s the moving factor that gets us through the darkest despair. That’s true, right?”

“Um…yes?” Chiaki raised an eyebrow. She definitely thought that Nagito was kind of exaggerating a bit, but she did admit that he kind of had a point. But…where is he going with this?

“Well, wouldn’t you agree that someone who does something in the name of hope, even murder, deserves some sort of praise?” His eyes darkened as he circled her like a panther surrounding its prey, that massive grin still resting on his face. “After all, the person who did that clearly was exhibiting it. They were willing to risk everything they had in order to hold on to the possibility of achieving their goal in the end. Their hope was so strong that they never gave up. And in the end, if they work hard enough, hope wins, like it always does. I just find that so admirable and amazing!”

Chiaki’s eyes widened as she stared at Nagito with a baffled look on her face. He seemed to notice her silence because he stopped circling her, instead gliding over to stand in front of her. “So…adding onto what I said, there are constant clashes between where a stronger hope devours the weaker hope. It’s like a fighting game. One hope is up against others and each is trying to win the match. Each hope is constantly giving everything they got to crush the others, using whatever attacks they have access to. However…only one can make it to the top. So, one hope is constantly leveling up and getting stronger by defeating despair while the others are getting crushed by it. Eventually, that hope wins, proving itself to be worthy of becoming an absolute hope that can overcome any despair. Do you follow?”

Chiaki was silent for a moment as she processed what Nagito was saying. Honestly, she was grateful that he used a video game analogy to try to explain his weird beliefs because if he didn’t, she probably wouldn’t have been able to understand it as easily. Could it be that he predicted that she needed help figuring out what he was saying? Regardless, it helped her wrap her head around the insane concept slightly.

“So…if I’m getting this right,” Chiaki glanced up with a thoughtful hand on the bottom of her chin. “You’re saying that you just want to help someone’s hope become as strong as it can possibly be…and you don’t care if they’re the blackened or not…because you just want to see their hope shine so brightly to the point of defeating despair? And…if I take this theory further…you’re trying to cause despair to see who can overcome it?”

Nagito smiled brightly. “Wow! That’s exactly it! I didn’t expect anyone to finally understand what I’m getting at. You’re clearly a sharp person, Nanami, worthy of becoming a Symbol of Hope.”

Chiaki held a hand up to stop him. “I didn’t say I understood you. I just translated what you were saying to something that was more understandable. Actually, I personally think there are a few flaws in your logic.”

“Oh?” Nagito raised his eyebrow as he tilted his head playfully at her. “Well, I’m always interested in hearing what you have to say, Nanami, so go ahead!”

Chiaki nodded. “Firstly, what you’re describing to me…it’s making me think that you’re looking for the wrong hope. What kind of hope is one that involves hurting others? If anything, the hope you’re seeking almost sounds like some sort of evil version of it…I think.”

Nagito sighed. “I didn’t expect someone to sympathize with trash like me, but you have to at least see how full of hope, say, Hanamura was. He was so desperate to see his mother and diner again, and his hope was clearly burning inside him. Even if he was attempting to deny our situation, I could sense it. So…I decided to set up a little trap for him to pursue it…though it didn’t go exactly as I planned since Hanamura clearly wasn’t worthy of being a Symbol of Hope. What a shame...Anyways, to answer your question, I don’t think there’s a difference between a good hope or an evil one. It’s still hope that I want to help someone grow and become strong enough to be considered the Ultimate Hope, no matter who they are!”

“Ultimate Hope?” Chiaki questioned, her mind spinning as she listened to him. “What do you mean by that?”

A small sly smile crept onto Nagito’s face. “Why, it’s the title for whoever has the strongest hope. The hope that’s powerful enough to accomplish anything that they want to achieve and is worthy of defeating any kind of despair out there! That’s what I’m hoping to find! There’s a person out there that’s worthy of that title, and I want to help them achieve it!”

As he talked, Nagito’s eyes seemed to twist with his insane and corrupt ideologies. They swirled like spirals as he grinned at Chiaki, his gaze making her want to run away. His eyes…they looked the same as they did back in the first trial. Like a cruel mix of hope and despair…

Still, Chiaki wouldn’t run. She’s finally getting Nagito to open up slightly about his motivations and she wasn’t about to give up because she was intimidated by him. She gripped on the straps of her backpack tightly as she formed her next sentence.

“You have a passion towards this subject, I see…” she said, hesitation creeping into her voice. “But…for someone who loves hope so much, you’re pretty ignorant about the hopes of the rest of us.”

This seemed to catch Nagito off guard slightly as he gasped and leaned forward, interested. “Oh? What do you mean by that, Nanami?”

Normally, Chiaki would’ve probably backed up. But…this time was different. This time…she was so close to getting answers. So, instead, she stepped forward, causing her face to now be just inches away from his. “Do you even know what my hope was?”

“Huh?” Nagito seemed to be caught off guard with her question, but he quickly shook it off as he smiled. “Not yet…but I’m hoping to find out…”

“Don’t worry,” Chiaki said, her smile as sweet as the strawberries on the wall. “My hope…was for us to all leave together. As friends. But…”

Her voice faded away for a moment as images of each death flashed in her mind. She wrapped her arms around her and stared at the ground, avoid looking Nagito in the eye. “…I couldn’t achieve it. So many people have already died here, Komaeda….I wanted to try to keep everyone alive after Togami and Hanamura died. I didn’t want any more murders to happen, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t let it happen…but…”

Her body shook slightly. She hadn’t really let it sink in until now, but…seven people are dead. They’re gone. And they’re never returning to them. Chiaki felt her lip quiver as her body seemed to want to fall onto the floor. Seven people…dead…and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Despite her goals and her reasons for being here, she couldn’t stop them from dying. She felt useless, being trapped in this funhouse until someone dies…unable to do anything. And even worse, her friends were fighting amongst themselves because of her…because she won’t reveal herself as the traitor…it was all her fault…

“N-Nanami…” Nagito’s voice grew soft, full of concern. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “Are you…crying?”

For a moment, she had forgotten where she was, what she was doing, and who was standing in front of her. She hadn’t even realized it until now, but with a touch of her cheek, she could feel the wetness against her skin. Huh..guess she was feeling more emotional than she initially thought. Those deaths must’ve had a toll on her after all. She smiled slightly. So much for keeping calm…

“Sorry,” she quickly wiped her eyes. “I lost myself there. What I’m trying to say is that…my hope is now crushed. Doesn’t that go against everything you’re for?”

Nagito glanced over to the side, not saying anything for a few minutes. Chiaki was pleased to see that she got him thinking…at least slightly. That must mean…maybe there’s hope for Nagito after all. Maybe he isn’t as twisted as he portrays himself as?

Nagito chuckled slightly. “I’m sorry, Nanami…that scum like me has crushed your hope. I never wanted to do that. But, I think it’s good. For you to be feeling some despair right now. After all, the despair will be-”

“A stepping stone to my hope,” Chiaki finished, glaring at him. “Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. And I don’t really want to hear it right now. So please…be quiet.”

While her voice still had the same soft tone that it always had, there seemed to be venom dripping down from her words. A silent anger directed at Nagito, one that wanted to poison him. To strike him down that very moment as revenge for crushing her hope. It wasn’t even what she intended to sound like, but she felt angry that, for a split second, she thought that he cared… And once he started saying all that stuff, her emotions seeped through her actions. It was weird for her and not following her usual behavior.

However, that silent anger seemed to have its benefits as Nagito immediately stopped talking. He immediately got his hands off her shoulder and just crossed his arms as he watched her finish wiping the tears off her face. The air was tense as the silence filled the whole room, and nobody made a sound for what felt like hours. Until finally…

“Are…you okay?” A soft voice came out of Nagito as he reached a hesitating hand towards her.

Chiaki finished wiping her tears away and faced him with her usual aloof expression. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, I just let my emotions get the better of me for a minute.”

Nagito chuckled. “Well…despite you getting angry at me, I can’t help but feel that this experience has made you stronger…But, I am sorry for all of this, Nanami. I can tell that, despite the fact that you hardly show your despair, you are truly heartbroken by their deaths. And..I’m sorry for that.”

Chiaki shrugged it off, ignoring the throbbing pain that had suddenly bruised her heart. “It’s fine…I’m trying to keep going for them after all. Because…if we can’t all escape the island together, then I want to, at least, keep going and protect everyone else for the sake of the people who died…”

“So…that’s your new hope?”

She paused for a moment, slumping slightly as she considered what Nagito said. Then, she gave a slight nod. “I suppose…it hurts…but it would hurt more if I spent all my time crying instead of trying to escape.”

Nagito smiled, placing his hand back on her shoulder. “Then our talk was a success. You still have so much hope shining inside. That’s all I want, Nanami! But…if you want my advice…” He gazed into her eyes, and, for the first time, Chiaki noticed that they were filled with concern and…maybe guilt? “Allow yourself to grieve and don’t try to bottle up all those emotions…we wouldn’t want that hope inside burning up, would we?”

Chiaki remained silent, moving her eyes away from Nagito’s. He seemed to notice her discomfort because he then backed up. “Heh, it seems like you’re still angry. I apologize for touching you and causing you to cry in the presence of trash like me. To make up for it…if I’m able to…I’ll try to assist you in achieving your hope. I can’t make any promises that I’ll be able to do much, but I’ll try.”

For the first time since they started investigating together, Chiaki smiled. “I…appreciate that, Komaeda. You know…despite the fact that your ideas of hope are clearly corrupt…I don’t think you’re a bad person.”

Nagito’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I think…you do bad things. But…I wonder if this is because of this killing game, and if you are a different person in a different situation. So…I’m choosing to believe that deep down inside, you’re a good person. A good person with corrupt morals…but I think you have a reason for your beliefs…”

“That’s…” Nagito hesitated for a moment, allowing Chiaki to continue.

“You don’t have to tell me right now if you don’t want to…but, maybe I can find out one day.” She shrugged. “For now, I’m going to try to protect you, too, and find your hope. Because…you’re definitely not trash, Komaeda. Just because you have a talent that you don’t think is as good as ours doesn’t mean that you’re worthless. Besides, being the Ultimate Lucky Student is a good talent even if talent did matter. So, you’re just as important as the rest of us.”

For a moment, Nagito was rendered silent, staring at Chiaki with eyes as wide as the strawberries on the wall. Then, he laughed, but it wasn’t one of those maniacal laughs he gave when talking about hope. It was…gentle. More human. Like he was laughing at a joke she made.

“You truly are a naive person, Chiaki Nanami. Kind…yet naive. It’s honestly cute..”

Chiaki felt her cheeks heat up at his cute comment, but she crossed her arms and gave him a knowing look. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I am naive. But, I’m able to hold on to hope because I try to be positive. I’m able to solve the class trials because I want to believe in others.” She walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm. “And because I'm “kind yet naive,” I’m able to understand you better.”

With that, Chiaki left to finally get back to investigating the funhouse, leaving Nagito standing there, stunned, with his face burning a bright scarlet red.

[austajunk]

Please PLEASE go into detail about how protective he is over Chiaki!! I literally am begging to finally hear someone else actually acknowledge their friendship/relationship especially after having to deal with a pretty toxic anti-bi/pan Nagito rper I was on a server with for a good part of a year! (Sorry went kinda ranty but hopefully my anguish is understandable!)

Oh my lord, you’re giving me a chance to shine with my fixations?! I can’t thank you enough! Now, please understand that this is based on my perception of the series as I’ve played through the second game twice. I’m pretty good when it comes to being the person who has unpopular opinions and ships and I know claiming that Nagito is bi/pan/Demi is probably one of them. But honestly, it comes from the desire to see this boy get as much love as possible. Because he sure needs it.

Ultimately, Nagito’s sexuality is never canonly specified, so I think whether gay, bisexual, Pansexual, or what have you, we’re all well within our rights to just have fun and see what we want to in a really flawed and relatable character. And that’s what makes it interesting.

That being said, let’s talk about Nagito and Chiaki. Friendship or romantic, I don’t think you can deny that Chiaki is at least special to Nagito in some way.

Upon replaying the second game, I’ve realized how protective Nagito actually is towards Chiaki interestingly enough.

In chapter 2, she leaves to go question Fuyuhiko but Nagito stops her and tells her not to let Fuyuhiko get rough with her. Every time Chiaki’s skills help them advance, he deeply praises her. Even after he’s stopped praising all the others (which he does mostly after Chapter one, hinting he does not like some of them as actual people). But for some reason, especially during the trials, Nagito is quick to jump in and mention how wonderful Chiaki is and compliment her (only to be usually cut off by someone when he starts to ramble).

It should also be noted that Chiaki and Nagito both share an appreciation for games. Nagito seems to like more luck-based games for obvious reasons, but he also mentions that like Chiaki, he likes the Twilight Syndrome series. Both of them similarly state that they felt Monokuma was butchering a favorite game of theirs.

They also both have an odd way of trying to cheer Hajime up and joke with him, the examples shown coincidentally beside one another. Chiaki says she’s gonna look for a dirty book, throwing Hajime off and Nagito “jokingly” tells Hajime to lick his boots and now to him, but Hajime is extremely put off when he claims it was a joke. These oddballs get each other in the weirdest of ways is what I’m saying. They’re both incredibly antisocial, but their hearts are reaching the same place too when they try to make an effort.

In chapter 4, when Chiaki teams up with Nagito and Kazuichi, then leaves because they’re both being clingy, Nagito quickly follows and chases after her to make sure she’s okay. Then he chastised her for running off, looking deeply concerned. Even after his attitude change, he will answer her more directly and not ignore her. When she tells him to be quiet, he politely obeys... or maybe it’s because he’s deep in thought about her motives as he mentions he was watching the trial carefully to decide on who the traitor is.

I may just be mentioning this because they’re my OTP, but if you know about their school time together and pay attention to Nagito’s Hope versus Chiaki’s Hope, I think it’s fascinating.

Okay, now let’s head into Danganronpa 3 territory. Now this is the part where I am the most shaky as I’m still trying to determine what I take canon from this series. The thing is, a friend who got me into the series informed me that the production was way rushed and that Kodaka never wanted to do the anime in the first place. But! That being said, Chiaki and Nagito have some great moments in this and the anthology comics along with it, so let’s get into some stuff.

First of all, Nagito warmly mentions that Chiaki being their class rep makes her the true Hope of their class. And you can tell he’s serious because as he’s saying it, he’s doing that thing where he’s staring at his hand desperately like he wants eat it. You know the look.

Moving on, it’s clear that aside from Chisa, Chiaki is the only one to value and treasure Nagito. And this makes sense. In her own dying words, she loves her classmates. They are the world to her. All of them. And of course, she loves Nagito too with all her heart. As evidenced as she cradled him protectively in her arms while he’s injured. At first when Chiaki and the others are determined to stand up to Junko and get their teacher back, Nagito pleads with Chiaki not to. That his luck could not overcome them. He knows they can’t win in this situation and I do think he was actually trying to talk Chiaki out of it. But of course, when Chiaki pushes back and says she wants to go anyways, he literally can’t help himself when it comes to wanting to see Hope shine. So he agrees and praises her again because of course he does.

Until it all leads to the Pain Train with Despair coming out on top. Chiaki is brutally slaughtered and we see something new from Nagito. He breaks down crying. Tears are streaming madly down his face as a forced and twisted smile appears on his lips. He even beseeches Chiaki’s name. “You understand right? You know you’re a stepping stone for Hope!” “What has been done to Nanami is unforgivable...” Nagito’s already trying to cope. To rationalize something horrible that he just witnessed in his mind. He’s trying to protect himself as he’s utterly being destroyed and breaking down like all of his classmates. Chiaki’s death literally shatters his mind. It’s a pretty well done scene even if I’m not a big fan of the brainwashing stuff. Not to mention, the way he says “You understand right, Nanami?” As if he’s begging for her forgiveness as he falls apart. It’s so very very tragic. And of course, when being made apart of the Neo World Program, his desire to see Chiaki once more, just one more time like his classmates, brings her back to him(and the other classmates) in AI form.

Honestly... it’s pretty beautiful. Chiaki is apart of Nagito in some way and is imprinted into his mind and heart. He longed to see her as much as everyone else. This person, who doesn’t seek out relationships because his luck either gets them killed or he finds their Hope to be too weak, has a connection with Chiaki like that. This is literally a person who believes his life is just a stepping stone for better and more worthy people, someone who knows their existence is a formality at this point. And still, he does have connections. There are people capable of caring about him and loving him and Chiaki was one of those people. And he wanted to see her again in the Neo World Program. Like Chiaki said, it’s no less than miracle.

But alas, this is getting rather long, isn’t it? Well in the D3 anthology, Nagito also is concerned when Chiaki avoids eating because of her hyperfixation on gaming. Chiaki skipping out on self care?! Not cool, Chiaki. And so he challenges her to a game to make sure she’ll eat lunch. Fucking protective as hell. And yes yes, the anthology isn’t canon... but that’s the thing about Danganronpa. The series is over. Any additional info and stuff added to it is meant to enrich the experience for the fandom, so it’s canon to me. What’s the fandom gonna do? Whine at me and tell me it isn’t? That Nagito wouldn’t do these things when official anthologies and content that’s sold for Danganronpa tells me he would? So... yeah.

Ultimately, whether you ship them or not, I think this fandom is missing out on the Komanami side of things and how good their relationship is when you really observe it. :3

[magioftheseas]

Boom Through Jabberwock!! Bang Bang!

Summary: An alternate/bonus scene spanning from Matsuda giving Ibuki a certain CD in Chapter 24 of Super Danganronpa 2: Matsuda Yasuke’s Battle of Despair and Wits.

Rating: PG

Warnings: None really.

Notes: It’s the yukata bonus scene but for SDR2 Protag Matsuda Yasuke. There’s a bunch more song references and extra banner. The yukata scene’s probably my favorite of the bonus events in sdr2, so it ended up being the longest. Hopefully that’s okay. It’s also much gayer. Because pride.

Read this fic among others HERE

Main story is HERE

Commission? Donate?

“If dealing with her is your way of dealing with guilt over Koizumi, then—I don’t think you could continue bothering.”

Mioda blinked again. Her mouth hung open, jaw slack before it began to tremble.

“Y-Yasuke-chan, that’s—way harsh! You’re making it sound like I don’t care about Hiyoko-chan at all!”

“It’s suffocating to have someone dote on you because they feel sorry for you,” he said. “It’s even worse when that person is floundering because then you feel bad for them.”

“Wah!”

“The fact that you approached me screams that you’re pulling your hair out over what to do about her.” Matsuda sighed, rubbing his nape. “That’s not remotely helpful. Gather your bearings first. Maybe...”

It’s not that I’m obligated to help, but it would be to my benefit that she and Saionji get along.

“When you kick the gachapon enough times, you can get prizes,” he finds himself saying, digging around in his coat to pull something out. “I happened to get this.”

This being the debut single of the band, The Black Cherries. Summer Festivitrees.

He tossed it to Mioda, but it just smacked against her chest as she gaped and he hurriedly had to catch it before it fell to the ground and broke before even having a chance to play.

“Um,” Mioda uttered as Matsuda handed it to her a second time. She didn’t take the CD. “W... Wow, Yasuke-chan.”

“No good, huh,” he guessed, waving it in front of her. Somehow, that did not make the CD more enticing. “Guess this kind of thing isn’t your jam.”

“I was just thinking that you’re fearless,” she said. “I mean—coulda guessed that from you and Nagito-chan being a thing... But seriously, that you’d have the brass to show me this...”

Matsuda’s frown deepened. His brow furrowed for good measure. However, when he pondered about what the fuck this girl’s problem could be, he could scrounge up a few ideas.

“Rival band?” he guessed, looking at the back of the CD. All it listed, of course, was the songs and artists and some copyright. “Or was there some stupid band drama?”

“Rivals!” Mioda confirmed with a chirp. “Did you not hear about all the hype of boys versus girls?! The battle of the boy bands and the girl bands?! The epic showdown of chicks and di—!”

“...isn’t battle of the sexes so last decade?” Matsuda asked, raising an eyebrow. “Hell, wasn’t it more thing two decades ago? Talk about outdated.”

“It super is,” Mioda agreed. “But that was just the press for ya. Out of time, out of tune, out of touch! My old band’s ticket sales and concert attendance numbers still got compared with the Cherries’ all the time.” She perked right up. “But out with the old, in with the new! It doesn’t matter to me because it’s old news about my old band!!”

“I see...”

“Music shouldn’t be about sales anyway!” she exclaimed. “Down with capitalism! Eat the rich!” A pause. She groaned, pained. “Oogh, Byakuya-chan would have been so yummy and chewy... I miss him so much...”

What the hell am I supposed to say to that?

“The meeting’s about to start,” he reminded her. “And...about Saionji...”

“This lightbulb has now been lit!” Mioda went right back to shouting, undeterred even as Matsuda grimaced. She just looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes. “Yasuke-chan, can I have you for the night?”

“...” His grimace darkened. “...”

“If you’re that busy with Nagito-chan, I gueeeeeeess he can come too,” she says, huffing before outright whining. “But you gotta give me an answer! Even if it’s not the story that I planned, I gotta hear your answer! I wanna know the answer!”

Matsuda squeezed his eyes shut, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

I really don’t want to, but...

“I guess I might as well go,” he grumbled.

“You should!” Mioda agreed happily. “GOOD answer! There wouldn’t have been much point in this bonus scene if you said no, Yasuke-chan!”

Matsuda stared.

“Ooh, so sharp! So cool! Cutting like the highest note!” she gushed. “Alright! The meeting time is two hours before the evening announcement! At the supermarket! No carts needed!”

Matsuda turned on his heel to hurry on ahead.

“Alright, then, guess that’s that.”

When she shouted some more, he didn’t look back. Only quickened his step.

--

After all the plot-relevant stuff of which the reader shouldn’t be concerned with right now, Matsuda did end up remembering the plans he made.

“Oh, right. It’s probably getting about whatever time that rocker girl wanted to meet up.”

“Oh, Matsuda-kun!” Komaeda exclaimed. “If you had already made arrangements with our Mioda-san, shouldn’t you have respected that first and foremost?”

“I had more important things going on,” Matsuda muttered. “Stuff more...relevant.”

“Geez, you’re such an asshole,” Hinata griped because he was here too for reasons. “Just hurry on. You shouldn’t keep Mioda waiting.”

“Eh.” He really shouldn’t. That said—“She said Komaeda can come, so I guess you should come, too.”

“H-Huh?! Why?!”

“Just...a feeling I have. Come on, you two.” Matsuda gestured for them to follow. “We’re heading to the supermarket.”

“Uwah, how exciting! Mioda-san’s kindness knows no bounds!” Komaeda gushed to which Hinata could only grumble.

“I feel like I’m just going to get pulled into extra work...”

Good news.

--

“O-nya-su-mi! O-nya-su-mi!” Mioda waved them over frantically from behind one of the aisles. “Ready for something to happen?!”

She gasped, gripping one of the cereal boxes with glee when she saw that Matsuda hadn’t arrived either alone or with just the resident crazy on the islands.

“Ooh, you brought Hajime-chan, too! I guess you do know the saying! Three’s a crowd, four’s a party!”

“Hey, Mioda,” Hinata greeted half-heartedly as she put the cereal back. Hinata strode up to her only to pause. What laid scattered before him was undeniable and he could only sigh at his fate. “Okay... What’s all this?”

When Matsuda got close enough for a look, he could see the piles upon piles of cardboard boxes. Komaeda, too, blinked at the sheer volume.

“Kaboom! Through summer!” Mioda exclaimed with a thunderous clap. “You can’t have a summer without fireworks!”

“I’ve had many of those,” Matsuda informed her without missing a beat.

“Loud noises make me a bit nervous,” Komaeda admitted before exclaiming, “How exciting!”

“Oh, right,” Hinata remembered. “Komaeda, on your student profile, it lists your dislikes as...”

“D-Don’t worry about it, Hinata-kun! It’s for the sake of hope!” Komaeda did in fact seem more nervous than excited. “Hope can come in loud, colorful bursts!”

“Eh...?”

“Filthy fireworks disappear into the sky!” Mioda sing-songs. “From Summer Festivitrees! Haven’t you heard it?”

“I don’t really listen to music that doesn’t play in anime,” Matsuda replied.

“Bang! Bang! There go my dreams!” Mioda gasped, but she recovered quickly. “Anyway!” With a salesperson grin, she gave a wide sweeping gesture towards the boxes. She even wiggled her hand while she was at it. “Boys, get those boxes! Let’s go! Set up!”

“Hah,” Matsuda huffed. “You could have gotten literally anyone to do grunt work.”

“Between the four of us, it won’t be too bad,” Hinata points out. “I mean...”

“Yeah, it’s a party!” Mioda agreed. “A super spicy party! Well—it’s a real party since I’ve already invited a few others! Chiaki-chan, Akane-chan, Mikan-chan, Sonia-chan—and did you know?! Hiyoko-chan’s gonna take pictures!”

...that’s good.

“Oh, and Nekomaru-chan juuuuust for Yasuke-chan!” she added, giving him a wink. “Everyone else already brought these fireworks in, so we’ll leave the rest to you! It’s Ibuki yukata time!”

“I suppose everyone else will be wearing yukatas as well?” Komaeda asked, to which she gleefully nodded.

“Yep! Sonia-chan’s gonna wear what she calls a Japanese yukata! So will Nekomaru-chan! Just for Yasuke-chan!”

“Great,” Matsuda griped, unenthusiastic. “What about us?”

“You want to wear yukatas too?!” Mioda yelped. “Unexpected! Aren’t the protagonists supposed to be the normies?! Or—wait! You want to see Nagito-chan in a yukata too, don’t you?! Sly dog! I should’ve known with my Ibuki sense!”

“W-What’s that mean?!” Hinata stammered. “I-I mean... Komaeda...!”

Komaeda blinked twice. His head tilted.

“I guess you’ll change into a yukata, too,” Matsuda told him. “I’ll look for some earplugs. Hinata will handle the boxes.”

“Wait why did I suddenly get saddled with all the work?! If Nidai’s here, he should help, too!”

“Nekomaru-chan helped during the day, Hajime-chan!” Mioda tutted. “Now, it’s your turn! Yasuke-chan has already asserted his dominance as top antenna!”

“What does that even mean?!” Hinata cried.

“Good luck, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda exclaimed. “Work your hardest so that your hope can shine your brightest! Oh, but, Matsuda-kun, please don’t feel obligated to...”

Aaaand Matsuda was already making his way down the aisle. No longer listening. A man single-focused on his mission. Mioda saluted him before marching on her merry way. Komaeda, too, left to go obediently change. Hinata, left alone, could only sigh.

Resigned to his fate, he began to move the boxes with only a mild grumble.

(Thankfully, once he found some earplugs, Matsuda did go back to help. He wasn’t that heartless.)

--

Thus, the night ended with a climactic series of colorful explosions in the starlit sky. Nidai whooped, Mioda cheered, and Sonia chattered excitedly.

Another burst. Nidai whooped again. Tsumiki was stammering in delight. Owari was happy, too.

The only one who wasn’t was...

“Pffft, so fucking lame,” Saionji muttered, but she snapped away with her camera. “It’s just because Mahiru-nee would’ve taken these pics...”

“The Ultimates are more radiant than any blossoming firework!” Komaeda exclaimed, voice uncomfortably loud as he likely couldn’t hear himself with the earplugs. “How wonderful! Sublime! Vibrant!”

Matsuda gave him a thumbs-up before gritting his teeth and adjusting the other’s yukata lest it be too revealing for this rather chilly evening.

Nidai whooped again, much to Nanami’s apparent confusion.

“Nidai-kun...keeps doing that...”

“It’s because when fireworks go up, you...whoop,” Hinata explained. He was looking away quite pointedly from a giggling Komaeda, his ears almost as red as a firework that just dyed the sky. Another whoop from Nidai as Nanami let out a curious hum.

“Girl power!” Sonia exclaimed.

“G-Go...burst...” Tsumiki stammered.

“Oh god, you two are so laaaaame,” Saionji groaned, to Tsumiki’s despair.

“E-Eep! I’m so sorry!”

“Oh! That’s a better face!” Saionji snapped with more enthusiasm. “Bwahaha! Pathetic weeping suits you waaaay more!”

“...Hiyoko-chan’s having a great time!” Mioda shouted. “Wahoo! Ibuki’s decisive victory!”

“W-What the hell are you talking about?!” the dancer shrieked.

“Lit ‘em up, Hajime-chan!” Mioda yelled, whooping with Nidai. “Do it, just DO IT!!”

“Got it, got it,” Hinata sighed, doing as he was told.

“After that one, we’ll trade off!” Nidai laughed. “You gotta enjoy these fireworks TOO, ya know!!”

Hinata did smile back, even warmer under another burst of color above.

“So lovely,” Komaeda cooed, and Matsuda didn’t care to ask if he specifically meant the fireworks.

Regarding everyone’s bright faces, made brighter by the fireworks, nothing else...really mattered.

The scent of summer enveloping the night. Goldfish fireworks trickling down, falling in drops,

Matsuda thought, remembering a song.

With eyes dazzled by the light, your gentle face was reflected for an instant.

When everyone parted, it was with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. One could even think it contentment if not for the erratic stumbling of a few stray thoughts.

[potatotrash0]

neptune (hold me close)

“As his luck would have it, he looks up just in time to see Hinata and Nanami lean into each other and share a kiss as the rest of the attendees cheer.

He can almost feel the amount of hope radiating from the scene, and it makes Nagito want to vomit when he realizes the only thing filling his veins is despair.”

—

Nagito is invited to Hajime and Chiaki’s wedding, but he can’t quite seem to enjoy it past his own pining.

Rating: T for like. one swear. Warnings: none, maybe nagito’s self-deprecation Word Count: ~2700 Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

Also on AO3 under the same user.

It isn’t so bad at first.

It’s easy to focus on the decorations and chatter of the rest of the guests. To distract himself with Souda’s endless rambling and Kamukura’s interjections, not quite as scathing as usual.

The floral arrangements are beautiful, he notes with a small smile, not overwhelmingly colorful but still striking. Everything is subtle, perfectly suited to Hinata and Nanami’s more subdued personalities.

It’s when they begin the ceremony that Nagito starts feeling his stomach twist, trying and most likely failing to keep his feelings in his chest.

His fingers twitch slightly as they rest on this thighs, his eyes trained forward. He knows Kamukura’s gaze is fixated on him, no doubt picking up on the unease in his too-straight posture. He doesn’t say anything though, and for that, Nagito is immensely grateful.

He feels a feeling of contempt for himself rise in his throat as the pianist begins playing. How disgusting, he thinks. He has the honor and privilege of attending one of the most important events of Hinata’s life, and all he can feel is resentment? Truly, absolutely revolting of him.

He still can’t manage a single drop of joy as he turns his head to watch Nanami walk down the aisle. She looks gorgeous, the pink and white dress complimenting her so well. A glance at Hinata shows that he’s stunned, and even from where Nagito is sitting, he can clearly see Hinata’s bright red flush.

Standing next to each other, Nagito can’t deny that they look perfect together. Like a match made in heaven. It’s a real shame all he can think of is being in Nanami’s place, he muses darkly.

He barely registers the pair’s vows, his mind going wild with so many things at once.

He imagines being able to get a first-row seat to Hinata’s blushing and stuttering, being the one to slip a ring onto the brunette. Being able to pull him close, have a reason to look into his eyes, and kiss him.

The thought almost makes him laugh. As if he, as the lowly, unfathomably pathetic piece of garbage that he is, would ever be worthy enough to even breathe the same air as Hinata, let alone marry him.

As his luck would have it, he looks up just in time to see Hinata and Nanami lean into each other and share a kiss as the rest of the attendees cheer. He can almost feel the amount of hope radiating from the scene, and it makes Nagito want to vomit when he realizes the only thing filling his veins is despair.

Once again, he feels Kamukura’s eyes on him, and when he glances over, Kamukura has an expression like he’s picking Nagito apart.

“You’re unhappy,” he points out, acting it’s like a fact, his red eyes burning holes into Nagito as he speaks.

Nagito laughs mirthlessly, every fiber of his being knowing how true that statement is and wanting desperately to just leave already. “Was I that obvious?”

Kamukura doesn’t respond, but Nagito can see just the smallest flicker of concern in his unblinking eyes.

Nagito shakes his head, letting his head hang as his hair falls into his eyes. “I’ll be fine. Please, don’t worry about me. This is a special day for Hinata-kun and Nanami-san, I would hate to ruin it with my selfish wishes.”

Kamukura seems to want to press further, if the firm press of his lips is anything to go by, but his eyes soften as he looks at Nagito’s face. He must look especially pitiful.

Souda is the first to jump up and run to Hinata and Nanami, everyone else quick to follow. Kamukura lags behind, glancing back at Nagito with a frown before turning away again.

Nagito can feel his body begin to shake, his vision blurring at the edges, and he jumps up with perhaps too much energy. He bumps into someone as he almost runs away, he thinks it’s Kuzuryuu from the small stature and glimpse of short, blond hair, and mutters an apology without looking back. He knows it’s suspicious, but he reasons that it’s surely not the most concerning thing he’s done.

Blindly, he stumbles to the bathroom, slamming the door too loudly behind him. The room is quiet, and the only sound in his ears is his own breathing and heartbeat.

He manages to make it three seconds before his eyes overflow and his legs decide it’s a great time to give out.

He slides down the door, shaking violently. He suddenly can’t breathe, his gasps for air too loud when he’s so close to the door, and every single one of his brain cells screams at him to shut up before someone hears him.

But even as he slaps both hands over his mouth in a weak attempt to keep quiet, his sobs escape out into the tiled room like his hands are made of air.

“Pathetic,” he laughs, his hands coming up and pulling at his hair as his head bangs against the door. “Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.” His voice cracks as he repeats it to himself.

What would Hinata think of him, knowing he’s not even grateful to have been invited to the Ultimate Hope’s wedding? It must have taken so much effort to spend time with a worthless waste of space such as himself, but Hinata still did it.

And for what, so Nagito could dare cry and despair because Hinata didn’t force himself to deal with Nagito even more than he already did?

Disgusting. He truly was an ungrateful, undeserving piece of shit.

He’s startled by a knock on the door.

A familiar voice follows the sound. “Hey, Komaeda, you in there?”

Nagito’s breath hitches in his throat.

Hinata.

He can’t decide if this is good or bad luck.

Maybe if he doesn’t answer, Hinata will go away? It’s a desperate grab, but surely he wouldn’t stand there forever.

Yes, he thinks, shoving down the sob that wants to come out and biting his tongue. Hinata is kind, too kind, but he doesn’t have an infinite supply of patience. He’s bound to leave at some point.

Another knock. “Komaeda, I thought I heard you crying in here. You okay?”

He wipes at the tears on his cheeks, screwing his eyes shut in an attempt to stop them from flowing further. He feels horrible for ignoring Hinata, but it would only disturb him to see Nagito in such a deplorable state. He doesn’t deserve that, not on his wedding day.

Hinata’s knock is more forceful now. “Come on, you’re worrying me.”

Nagito’s eyes widen, and he almost loses his grasp on his filter. Half of him wants to persist with his silence, but the other half itches to protest Hinata’s misplaced concern.

He can hear Hinata’s sigh from through the door. He doesn’t knock this time, but he does continue attempting to coax Nagito out of hiding. “Komaeda, what’s wrong?”

Nagito smiles bitterly. Hinata says he’s mean, an ‘asshole’ in his words, but then he turns around and pulls stunts like this. He always insists Nagito doesn’t give himself enough credit but never says anything about underselling his own benevolence.

“I’m serious here, Komaeda. Kamukura told me you were upset about something, and Kuzuryuu said you ran off in a hurry. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if something’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

Ah. So Kamukura sold him out.

Nagito sighs and untangles his hands from his hair, not missing how several strands come away on his palms. He interrupts when Hinata speaks next.

“Komaeda—“

“If I may ask, Hinata-kun, what did Kamukura-kun say?”

Hinata is silent for a moment before he responds. His tone suggests he’s surprised, most likely because he didn’t expect a reply from Nagito. “Uh...not much. He said he couldn’t tell me much more besides the fact that you were upset about something.”

Nagito nods, his face blank. He pulls his legs to his chest, resting his arms on his knees. He glances at the door when Hinata speaks again.

“Are you okay? Can you at least open the door?”

Nagito barely considers the request before shooting it down, shaking his head even though he knows Hinata can’t see him.

“You would only be disgusted. I look even more unsightly than usual,” he says with a quiet laugh. He hasn’t looked in the mirror, but he already knows it’s true.

Hinata replies instantly, almost forcefully. “That’s bullshit.”

Nagito blinks and stares at the door like he might be able to see Hinata past the wood.

He can hear a loud, sharp sound, suspiciously similar to a wince. “I-I mean, you don’t—! It...it can’t be that bad, right? I don’t think you’re actually as...um.”

Hinata doesn’t continue that sentence, and a small part of Nagito really wants him to, but he forces himself to shake off the thought and stand up to open the door.

Hinata’s facial expression seems to lighten up for a split second when he sees Nagito, before he sharply sucks in a breath and doesn’t exhale.

Of course. Nagito smiles, not quite looking Hinata in the eyes as he speaks. “Ah. I suppose I was right to assume I looked like repulsive.”

Hinata seems to panic, for some reason unknown to Nagito. “What? N-No, no, you’re fine, I’m just. Uh. Surprised?” Nagito almost laughs at the instant grimace that lines Hinata’s face afterwards.

Nagito leans against the doorframe as he watches Hinata take a deep breath before speaking again.

“Um...you were crying, weren't you?” Hinata seems hesitant, like he’s afraid of offending Nagito or something.

Nagito’s eyebrows furrow as he responds, looking down at Hinata properly. “You don’t have to worry about me, Hinata-kun. It was selfish to make you leave your own wedding reception to check on me of all people.”

“What? Komaeda, no, I wanted to see if you were okay. You didn’t answer my question, by the way,” Hinata says, a familiar expression on his face that Nagito knows means Hinata is irritated.

Nagito stays silent for a moment before answering quietly. “Yes. It’s nothing too important.”

Hinata pinches the bridge of his nose and grumbles, “If you’re running off in tears right after the ceremony, I think it’s pretty damn important.”

He stares at Nagito for a moment before an exasperated, knowing look crosses his face, and his arms cross against his chest. “You’re not gonna talk about it, huh?”

Nagito attempts to resist the urge to smile. “I’m rather easy to read today, aren’t I?”

Hinata sighs heavily. “Fine. But we’re discussing this at some point, alright?”

Nagito hesitates, but he knows from experience that Hinata will probably insist on it whether he likes it or not. He nods without a word.

Hinata seems to be satisfied with that, his expression relaxing as he turns on his heel to, presumably, make his way back to the reception. “Come on. Souda and the other guys will be glad to see you’re alright.”

Nagito follows along a few steps behind, biting the inside of his lip. ‘The guys? Does that mean...Hinata wasn’t the only one concerned?’

“Komaeda, I can practically hear you chewing yourself out.” Hinata doesn’t sound impressed.

He stops walking and turns to Nagito, putting his hands on his shoulders. He speaks gently this time.

“You might think you’re a burden, but people do genuinely care about you, Nagito.” Hinata makes it a point to look him in the eyes as he says this. “I think even Kuzuryuu would agree when I say that you’re too hard on yourself.”

With what might be the warmest smile Nagito’s ever seen, Hinata continues softly, ”You’re not as horrible as you think you are, Komaeda.”

Nagito can’t bring himself to look away from Hinata, as much as he wants to. When he croaks out his next sentence, he finds himself dangerously close to tears again.

“Hinata-kun...you’re too kind. I don’t deserve this much compassion.” His voice cracks on that last word, his eyes slipping shut as he begins to shake again.

Hinata’s hands loosen their grip the slightest bit, and Nagito takes the chance to stagger back, wrapping his arms around himself in a feeble attempt to try and make himself smaller.

“I-I’m,” Nagito gasps, trying to talk past the new round of sobs threatening to come tumbling out, “I’m sorry, Hinata-kun. You shouldn’t—!”

Hinata is quick to step forward, tugging Nagito into his arms like he isn’t crying hysterically. “Hey, hey, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” he says softly into Nagito’s ear, arms wrapped around his waist.

Nagito tenses up, trembling as he hiccups. Hinata manages to pull him closer still, and that’s really all it takes for Nagito to start bawling even harder.

His arms wind themselves around Hinata’s neck, and he feels awful for ruining Hinata’s suit, but when he tries to apologize, all he gets is a gentle shush.

Hinata’s hand rubs circles on Nagito’s back, and he really can’t understand why Hinata refuses to accept that he’s simply too kind when he does things like this on days where it’s supposed to be about him.

At some point or another, Nagito had sunk to the floor, he realizes when his eyes begin to dry. He looks to Hinata with a slight panic, but Hinata doesn’t seem to care. Rather, he smiles, and Nagito feels so close to crying again, but he stops himself as Hinata speaks.

“You alright?” Hinata says, not quite a whisper, but not as loud as he would normally speak.

Nagito wants to answer, but he doesn’t trust his voice, so he settles for a mute nod.

“You’re okay to head back to the reception?” Hinata asks, in that same soft tone that he keeps using, and that makes Nagito ache with how head over heels in love he is.

Nagito nods again mindlessly, not wanting to keep Hinata any longer than he already has, but in hindsight, he probably should have known Hinata would realize something was wrong.

Hinata presses his lips together, before releasing his hold on Nagito’s waist. Nagito mourns the loss before his breath catches in his throat for the thousandth time that day as Hinata’s hands come up to cup his cheeks.

Hinata raises an eyebrow at him, the small smirk on his face mildly distracting. “You really think I’m not gonna notice you trying to lie again? After I just caught you crying twice in a row?”

Nagito blinks, brain buffering for a moment before he chuckles. “That’s...I suppose I’m not a very good liar in the first place.”

Hinata’s smile widens a fraction, before dropping. “But really. I won’t stop you from leaving if you really want to.”

Nagito opens his mouth to reply, but something makes him pause. He should be honest with this, he decides, but he doesn’t really know if he could handle seeing Nanami without feeling horribly guilty.

“No one will be mad or upset with you if that’s what you’re worried about. Chiaki was probably the most concerned besides me and Kamukura, she almost came with me to check on you,” Hinata says, a knowing tone to his voice.

Nagito sniffles and his human arm drifts up, his fingers lightly brushing Hinata’s hand. Even when he whispers, his voice is shaky, “Nanami-san...Kamukura-kun...Hinata-kun. Everyone is so kind. I don’t...I’m really not worth this much concern.”

Hinata sighs, but a smile that borders on fond plays on his lips, if he dared label it so. “Komaeda, how many times am I going to have to tell you? I—we care about you more than you think.”

Nagito swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. “Yes,” he blurts out. “I-I can handle being at the reception, I think.”

Hinata’s grin is so bright, so sudden, and so pretty, Komaeda really thinks he might finally keel over, to be having such amazing luck. ”Perfect.”

---

Izuru kicked Hinata’s leg, staring at him. Hinata flinched, muttering a quiet ‘ow,’ and glared at him.

“What was that for?”

“Please tell me you’re not going to keep tip-toeing around each other like this.”

“W-What the hell—“

“Hinata.”

“...I mean, I’ll tell him at some point! Like, I don’t know, when I know I’m not gonna be shot down...”

Izuru sighed and let his head bang gently on the table. He and Nanami might actually have to intervene to get these idiots together in this lifetime.

[a-student-out-of-time]

Connections Review Part 3

Storm Maverick- Category 5

And we return! This will be the final part of the Connections Arc. I had initial plans for this to be 2 parts but sadly Maverick got too big and therefore he required his own part. This is by far the most divisive part of the Arc as everyone seems to be content with the time travel and harems, but as soon as Maverick ‘Motherfucker Hellspawn’ Storm got relevant it all went downhill for some. So, what do I think?

So, this is part is less ‘What is Maverick doing’ and more of what I think of Maverick. As you guys know, I am aware that Maverick is a lot older than people seem to recognize as he has his origins in Askthedespairkids. And in the context of that blog, Maverick is actually a pretty good character. You have to remember that the blog was saturated with OCs and a lot of them suffered from severe sueness or edgy syndrome. I will not make names and I will not say who made the worst OCs because that’s the easiest way to start an internet war, but the two big reasons I got bored of Askthedespairkids and quit reading is due to how poorly written a lot of these OCs were and they hogged a lot of the spotlight, and the canon characters ended up being regulated to the side-lines, which didn’t tickle my fancy at all. True, Maverick was very over the top and what he ultimately ended up doing to his former classmates in Class 75 is incredibly graphic and probably worse than some of the executions and murders canonically, but I would rather blame the general OPness of that blog. Now this is on the Mod’s terms Maverick can hopefully be hit with the nerf hammer a bit more so he isn’t as ridiculous as he was in Askthedespairkids. Furthermore, you can’t call Maverick a Villain Sue and not apply that to Junko Enoshima, because yeah, she is a Villain Sue, that’s why I don’t like her.

But things are different now. Maverick is standing on his own, against only a couple of other OCs and canon characters. Furthermore, the Mod’s writing skills have improved since the Askthedespairkids days so there’s a bit more pressure on Maverick. I think there are two issues I find with Maverick. The first is that I didn’t like him making a move during this arc. The arc was fine just focusing on time travel and the various harems and relationships of the characters, adding Storm just bloated the arc and made it much longer then needed, I feel like Maverick could have been revealed next arc and the next next arc would be the next arc we are currently getting into. This gives me serious Oncoming Storm vibes where an Arc is ridiculously long and a build up to a (hopefully) big payload. Now let me make this straight, this Arc is a million times better then Oncoming Storm, I don’t think any future Arc would be as bad as Oncoming Storm, as that was long and boring whereas the previous stuff was interesting, its just that adding Storm made the Arc very bloated and artificially extended the length of the arc making it tedious. Perhaps a forewarning to the Mod when they decide to include someone like Mikado and Junko into the story. The second issue with Maverick is…he’s basically a poor man’s Junko. At the moment I’m really struggling to find any meaningful differences between Maverick and Junko. With Juu being around we already have our big bad villain for the second Session and if I’m right, Session 3’s main villain is going to be Mikado and Session 4’s villain is Junko. I know Maverick is important to the backstories of Umeko and Kyoji, especially Kyoji, but aside from tying up those loose ends, what is the point of Maverick? Does he exist to give the Quantum Crew a practise run against Junko? And yes, his threat level is higher as he’s kidnapping an obscene amount of people and is able to block us Anons, but Maverick shouldn’t know we exist. I really, REALLLLY hope there’s a logical explanation for that because if Maverick is somehow able to sense the Anons and see how much of a threat we are, then the accusations of Maverick being a Villain Sue do hold water.

Overall, I will be more critical of Maverick now then I was back then because he enjoyed being next to poorly written characters but that safety net no longer exists and there’s too many glaring similarities between him and Junko. Now for his actions yeahhh…. I did warn you guys that Maverick is that special kind of evil but I don’t think it was until Nikei revealed about all his foster families committing suicide that it really hammered home. It’s basically vindication of what I said before. The stakes are a lot higher now because previously yes there was all the girls being kidnapped but it was just Tokyo and one demographic, but here lots of people all across Japan are vanishing and being brainwashed by Storm, so the pressure is on for the Quantum Crew to stop him. And some familiar names as well as Damian, Aiko’s pen pal and Hiroyuki, Kiroko’s younger brother have gone missing alongside Kanon. Kanon vanishing means I think Leon is going to be important next arc because we did promise Leon that Hajime & friends would help her and he’ll be willing to throw his lot in to save his cousin. And the pressure is even more on because Yuki’s been taken as well, having traded Mikado for Storm. This is going be big, especially for Sora as she’s been struggling with how much she cares for Yuki and this will be a real test to see where her allegiances lie. Especially as its unknown what happens if either Yoruko or Sora dies, because if Hajime dies, time rewinds and he uses a life but what if Yoruko and Sora get offed? They don’t have lifelines so what happens if Hajime resets, does Yoruko revert to her old self or does Sora get erased from existence as she isn’t supposed to be ‘born’ yet?

Kyoji also got some development as we see him bonding with Monaca and the newly reformed Kanade, and it’s a very ironic twist that the two characters who are often nicknamed as ‘Satan’ in the fandom are now more or less siblings. As good as a caretaker he is for them though, his recklessness and self-loathing issues are still there as it prevents him from seeing Miaya despite a meeting between them being sorely needed and thinking she won’t want to see him again even if that may not be the case, and wanting to deal with Storm ASAP despite legit concerns that it could be a trap. Thankfully Chisa and Chiaki were able to talk some sense into him and rein in some of his more destructive behaviour. Given how manipulative Storm is and we have not one but two characters who are willing to go off the handle, possibly three if Nikei jumps the gun again, its going to be a very intense arc coming up as not only do the Quantum Crew have to fight against Storm and his backers, but also keep some of the more hot-headed members of the team from being reckless. The new members of the Quantum Crew are pulling their weight though as Kazuichi offered insight into the tech that Storm could use, Chisa obviously helping to keep sanity in check and Ibuki had one of her lucid ideas and managed to suggest how Storm delivered all the VPN password codes to his victims in a way that isn’t unnoticeable which is just mailing them a vacation brochure. I’ll admit, this was really clever by the Mod as that went over my head when it was delivered, but I should know about Chekhov’s Gun, which is don’t include something if its not going to be relevant later. Lesson learnt and I need to be more alert to detail now.

And that concludes the Connections Arc as the QR Code was scanned and they saw the welcome message from Maverick and Kyoji cursing Storm’s name. And my ranking shall be a C-. It would be a solid C but the inclusion of Maverick bloating the arc out and the fact that now he’s not being propped up by terrible OCs means the writing flaws of the character are starting to become more apparent and his similarities with Junko makes me question if he is a necessary character in the story or not. I will withhold too much judgement until the next Arc concludes but I did enjoy the Arc until the Storm part so its not enough to drop into D territory so C- it is. Either way, I’ll be watching the next arc with great interest and hopefully my new method of cutting down on needless wavering is making this easier to read. See you once the Storm calms down! -Review Anon

//Once again, thank you for the reviews. And admittedly, yes, I do wish I’d held off on introducing Storm’s plans until the ongoing plot threads were resolved and everyone came home. I can see all this being the beginning of the current arc and it probably would’ve worked better. That’s definitely the biggest flaw I can see with the last arc, though it’s important for setting stuff up and my desire is not for preparations to drag out, but for us to get to what’s important.

//After the Oncoming Storm, I’m wary of writing any more long preparation arcs, especially when I’m stuck in a long depressive episode ^^;

//I’ve never claimed to be a perfect writer or even a good one, but I’ve tried to improve on my writing since my early days. I had very little idea of what I was doing back then and it really does show. I only ask that you all go into the next arc with an open mind and not let past experiences of bad writing color your opinions, which I’m sure you won’t.

//I won’t spoil anything, but this upcoming arc has what’s probably my hardest decision as a writer to date and I’ve decided to committed to it, even if it hurts to think about. 

//I do hope you look forward to what comes next ^^

[mimi-cee-hq]

Yahaba’s Type - Yahaba x Reader (Part 2 of 2)

[Masterlist]

[Part 1] [Part 2]

Summary:

Although Y/n was known as the clown friend, she wasn’t very comfortable around Yahaba. But that started to change when she saw him awkwardly practising his tosses by himself.

Match-up Request:

Hi I’m here for a match up request~ I’m tall (about 1.80) with blonde middle length hair & light brown eyes I’m a bit plump (usually thin but lately I’ve put on some weight) & sometimes I get self conscious about it 😬 been playing volleyball for 10 years as a middle blocker & my team’s ace ☺️ I also enjoy drawing a lot whenever I have free time Im THAT clown friend who gets really happy whenever people laugh with my jokes & I try to cheer people up that way whenever I see someone being down -🦋

So I found out that actually can save my answers as drafts (but only in the app??). *shrugs* Still learning how to use Tumblr.

Yahaba’s Type - Yahaba x Reader

Words: 2,066

Yahaba took a glance at the second floor before their practice match had started. As they warmed up for the match, he felt like his serves and sets were on point today. He was glad that his setting practice with Y/n had paid off. Chiaki and Y/n decided to watch their game today when Chiaki heard about it. She wanted to know what kind of teammates Kyotani had and wondered how they treated him. Y/n came along as well, which was probably the first time she had ever watched their games. But there were times when he wondered if she should have come.

The match started off with Yahaba’s serve. After bouncing the ball a couple of times, he threw the ball in front of him and ran up to it for his jump serve. But as it hit the top of the net, he held his breath until the volleyball had fallen onto the opponent’s side of the court. He let out a sigh of relief. But that didn’t last long because he heard Y/n shouting at the top of her lungs. “Kya~~! You’re so cool, Yahaba!”

Yahaba quickly turned his head up to her direction to see her laughing her head off. He got a bit annoyed at her since he knew she was just messing around. She wouldn’t have been impressed by his jump serve because she knew how to do one as well. Also, getting a point from a net serve already wasn’t very cool in itself. She was probably just mimicking Oikawa’s fan girls that he had told her about. Now he regretted ever telling her about them.

He gave her a smirk just before his next serve. He made sure she was still watching him. His next serve was a powerful one that he aimed at the other team’s spike-haired libero. When the libero missed his serve, he gave Y/n a smug grin. In response, she gave him a thumbs up and smiled.

“Well someone is showing off again,” said Kindaichi. Yahaba straightened up, remembering that he was in the middle of a match.

“What did you expect?” commented Kunimi. “He’s always been like that.”

As Yahaba got the ball back and walked back to the serving line, Y/n yelled out, “You’d better not miss your next serve!” She then said with a laugh, “Otherwise I’ll expose all of your secrets!”

Yahaba flinched at the thought. He didn’t want his team to know how much he had been practising outside of their usual practices.

“Since when have they been close?” Watari asked Kyotani. He just shrugged in response.

Yahaba didn’t expect them to notice that they were more comfortable with each other now. But with how Y/n was treating him, he shouldn’t have been surprised. The two of them had unintentionally continued to practise with each other for the past few months. He wasn’t planning on continuing their practices together, but he saw how much he had improved because of them.

When their opponents were able to get their first point, Seijoh got ready to receive their serve and attack. But when Yahaba set the ball to Kyotani, it was too high for him to reach. Luckily, Kunimi was somehow able to cover for him, even though it gave the other team a chance ball.

The next few times Yahaba tried to set, he kept on messing up. His fingers felt stiff. He didn’t know what was wrong because he had felt great during the warm up. Yahaba started to feel frustrated because he knew he was failing his team and they needed him. He was now their starting setter and captain. How were they supposed to beat Karasuno the next time around if he was already screwing up this match? He started to wonder if all of the extra practice with Y/n was useless.

Suddenly, he heard Y/n yell out a cheer. “Go, go, let’s go, let’s go, Dateko!”

The court was silent as they stared at the second floor to where Y/n stood. The Seijoh players were the first to break the silence with their laughter.

“What the heck is wrong with her?” said Kindaichi while he laughed hard enough for tears to come out of his eyes.

“Not only is she not cheering for us, but we’re not even playing against Dateko!” added Watari as he held his stomach while laughing.

Yahaba covered his laughter with his mouth. He also found it hilarious but he was equally embarrassed by her. She must have noticed that he was starting to panic. The rest of the team was doing well except for him

As the rest of the court continued to laugh, Y/n justified her actions by saying that their cheer was catchy. She even sang along when her own team played a match against them. She thought it was a lot better than their school’s cheer.

Yahaba then saw the referee remove the whistle from her mouth and turned to Y/n. “Y/n! If you disrupt this match again, you’ll be kicked out and you’ll have to run a hundred laps around the school during next practice!”

Y/n stood up straight and replied, “Yes, ma'am!” She pretended to zip her mouth to show that she had understood.

“I forgot that we got the girls’ team’s coach as the ref,” Kindaichi mentioned to Kunimi.

“If she’s the team’s captain, it must be pretty chaotic with her there,” added Kunimi.

Yahaba felt a bit of second-hand embarrassment from what Y/n just did. But because of her joke, he was able to calm down.

He realized how cold his fingers were. As he breathed on his hands, he remembered when he had jammed his fingers at the community center. Y/n had taken his hands and worried over them. He remembered how soft and warm her hands had been. So even though Yahaba had been trying to warm up his hands, he felt his cheeks heat up instead.

After the practice match had ended, Yahaba walked off the court and grabbed his water bottle for a drink. Y/n walked down from the second floor and the tall middle blocker from the other team approached her.

“We should go to the udon place that’s nearby,” stated the intimidating guy with a large build.

“Oh,” said Y/n with a nervous smile. “I’m not really interested.”

“But it’s really good!” he continued to insist.

Yahaba walked up to the guy who was pestering Y/n and tried to stare him down even though he was more than two meters tall. “She said she’s not interested,” Yahaba sternly told him. It’s not like he hadn’t dealt with troublesome people before. He didn’t want Y/n to deal with him by herself.

“What are you doing?” asked Y/n as she raised an eyebrow. “He’s a friend from junior high.” She continued to explain that a group of them were planning a reunion. She had said she wasn’t interested because she didn’t really like udon. She was more of a rice person.

“Ugh, this is so embarrassing,” Yahaba thought to himself.

“Sorry Hyakuzawa,” Y/n apologized with a smile. Kindaichi and Kunimi snickered at Yahaba for trying to be cool. He just told them to shut up.

As Yahaba walked away from the scene, Kyotani leaned on the wall with his arms crossed. “So what happened to having a type?” he asked with a smirk. He still held a grudge against him after all these months.

“Ugh, I don’t have one, okay?” Yahaba responded in frustration.

*****

After another night at the community center, Y/n plopped on her bed out of exhaustion. Her mom scolded her to at least take a shower. She did what she was told and got ready for bed. She checked her phone and saw a couple of texts from Yahaba.

Yahaba: Did you get home okay?

Yahaba: Since you’re not replying, I’ll just go sleep now. Night.

There was also another text that had appeared about an hour later.

Yahaba: I hope you dream of me

Y/n especially blushed at the last one. She didn’t remember him being a flirt. She knew there was no way he meant that. But a silly grin still formed on her mouth as she tried to lay on her bed to sleep. Unfortunately, it turned out that she was right. The next morning she saw one more text from him.

Yababa: I’m sorry! My sister texted that! Ignore that last one!

She knew that she should have known better. She sighed. It was harder to get over her growing crush on him.

She took a second look at the texts. She realized that he must have been exhausted for his sister to have the opportunity to use his phone. She wondered if they should cut down on their practices together.

Later at school, Y/n asked Chiaki if she was still free to come over for some home karaoke. She replied that she was.

“Can I come?” asked Kyotani.

Y/n had to blink a few times before she excitedly asked, “You want to sing?! Are you serious?!”

“No, I want to watch Chiaki sing.” Kyotani replied.

“Well that makes a lot more sense,” she laughed.

“Did you want to come?” Kyotani asked Yahaba.

“Why would I want to come?” asked Yahaba.

“You should come too! It’ll be fun!” said Y/n.

Kyotani didn’t really care was his response would be so he started to walk away with Chiaki. But Yahaba decided to tag along anyway.

When they arrived at Y/n’s house, her dad greeted Yabaha. But he flinched when Kyotani realized that he had been going to the community center.

“I guess your secret is out,” laughed Y/n. Since Kyotani knew her dad as well, he nodded to greet him.

The four of them sat in the living room. Kyotani and Chiaki sat on the large couch and Yahaba took the other end. Y/n set up the karaoke machine.

Chiaki sang a ballad beautifully. Y/n belted out a different song and sung badly on purpose. “Yay! I got a 68!” cheered Y/n. Her best friend found the whole thing hilarious like usual. Yahaba wondered why he came in the first place.

When Chiaki started to whistle to one of the songs, Y/n tried to whistle too. She couldn’t whistle at all. But she was being stubborn and kept trying anyway.

“You look stupid,” said Yahaba. “You’re getting your spit everywhere.” In response, she purposely got closer to him to tease him some more. “Ugh! Stop doing that!”

But Y/n still didn’t stop. It was kind of fun annoying him and the other two found it hilarious. Yahaba didn’t know how to make her stop. So he kissed her.

Y/n froze. She didn’t understand what had just happened. Yahaba smirked at her. But then his attempt to look cool failed him and his face became just as red as hers.

“W- What was that?!” Y/n freaked out. “Why would you do that?!” She tried to cover her blush with her hands. “You should only do that to someone you like!”

Yahaba looked away as he replied, “So it’s fine then.” He hid his face with his hands when Y/n realized that he admitted to liking her.

“B- But,” she continued to panic, “I’m not even your type.”

“I don’t have a type anymore,” he replied. “It’s just you.”

For once, Y/n was silent. She was trying to process the whole thing. She never expected Yahaba to like her back. She then smiled at the thought that he liked her enough for his type to be irrelevant over these past few months.

She took the seat beside him and inched a bit closer. The two still couldn’t make eye contact with each other. They both tried to steal a glance from each other, but when their eyes met, they quickly turned away again. Kyotani and Chiaki just stared at their awkwardness.

“Yahaba,” Y/n’s dad said in a deep voice. Y/n and Yahaba both flinched, not realizing that her dad was there. “I was wondering when you’d finally say something,” he said with a smirk.

*****

Extras that didn’t fit in the story:

Since Yahaba likes ikura don and Y/n likes rice dishes, they eat it all the time on dates.

Kyotani is actually pretty observant since he was conscious of his old teammates talking behind his back. But because he’s stubborn, reckless and just does his own thing anyway, it doesn’t really show through.

Chiaki is the cunning, protective type that looks innocent, but only Kyotani and Y/n know that.

I wanted Y/n to be the daughter of the guy from the community center who watched the Seijoh vs Karasuno match. But if she was, Y/n would have a (last) name. lol.

I hope you liked it! I actually had a hard time getting “clown funny” down. Other types of funny come more naturally to me (like sarcastic, teasing, and punny.) So I got some ideas from the webtoon Odd Girl Out with Mirae as a character model.

I also had a working name for Y/n because I write better that way. I might also post on fanfiction.net with the working name because they technically don’t allow reader-inserts. But I might not do it because it’s more work. lol. I actually initially started posting stories on FFN.

Check out my other stories too. :) I’m hoping to build a collection of them with all of the requests.

[Part 1] [Part 2]

[Masterlist]

[originaldanganronpascenarios]

Oof more angst if that’s ok mwahaha I’m such a masochist I liked the zombie apocalypse Aus so how about one where (Nagito, gandum, Mondo and makoto) s/o is taken hostage by raiders the want to take over the shelter they made with a group of people they fight off the raiders only to be caught in a group of zombie s/o saves the boys and dies but after that the guys give up as well and let the rescue go in vain sorry if that’s too much

Mwahahhha I can't write THH for shit.

Nagito Gundham Mondo and Makotos S/O taken hostage and being saved then dying during a zombie attack saving the boys

Nagito Komaeda

The whole zombie apocalypse was a disaster but you and Nagito built pretty decent shelter. You had enough supplies for you two and sometimes you took in few people who were having hard time for few days.

You never expected anyone to try and attack anyone since you thought all humans should work together.

When you went for an exploration alone (of course with a weapon) and someone approached you you assumed they needed help but they kidnapped you.

You woke up in some kind of barn? You weren't sure. The ones who had taken you hostage were silent while you weren't sure what they want.

What they did was threat Nagito to give up your base. When he was finally there he politely said "There is no reason to be so drastic is there? Me and S/O have supplies and if you needed some you could just ask" one of the bikers seemed disgusted by his words "Why whould we ask to get a part since we can have everything?" the biker pushed Nagito onto the ground.

The group was big but it was visable that they knew nothing about fighting. When Nagito came for the rescue he had no weapon with him since they whouldn't let you go if he did. The fight started.

Thanks to Nagitos luck he was able to grab baseball bat one of the bikers had. He quickly set you free. You grabbed your weapon and beat the shit out of them.

You didn't kill anyone but if any zombies whould find them they whould die.

As you were going back there was whole army of zombies on the way back. You were extra careful but you didn't manage to sneak past them and you caught their attention.

You did good fighting them but there was just too much and both you and Nagito were exhausted you asked him to run.

He was surprised as he didn't wanted to let you die. His suggestion was to swap roles but you had none of that and said that he should be the one to run since you got bitten anyways so its better for you to die here and not become a zombie and he could continue living.

This broke his heart but he had to do it... leave you there to die while he ran.

Now it was a week since you died. He couldn't take it to live without you he decided to end his life since there was no hope in his life no- world without you.

Gundham Tanaka

He couldn't belive the apocalypse happend but you two managed to survive and find great location for base.

You had a lot of food and lot of traps on zombies. Of course there were obvious but these are zombies. They allways got caught.

Becouse of how obvious they were someone was able to get in when Gundham set new traps in the back of your base. And that someone was one of the bikers.

Gundham heard your scream and immediately went towards where he last saw you. All that was left was a note. He was furious as he quickly went to bikers base.

It had only weapons but no supplies that can actually help with survival. When he appeared as promised- weaponless he shouted "What do you foolish mortals need from overlord such as myself" he glared at them as one of them chuckled "Isn't it obvious freak? Our base is nothing compared to yours so I ask for small exchange" He was surrounded but they didn't knew who they were messing with.

Since they had base practically made out of weapons he quickly reached for first one wich was a crowbar.

Even though there was about 6 of them Gundham got them all quite easily even though they were good at combat it was nothing compared to Gundham. He probably killed one but he couldn't care less since they messed with you at such terrible time.

When you were safe he hugged you and you agreed to get going and forget that happened.

On your way back there was another problem- zombies. There was too many. You tried to fight it but they got you pretty badly.

He refused to believe that you may die. He picked you up and ran away. When you were in safe place he put you down and you were too injured to make it.

He could feel his heart break each time you yelped in pain. He tried to fix you bandaging your wounds but you were too injured and this did nothing bikers earlier also hurt you that's actually how the zombies got you so badly they probably bit you too so there was no hope of saving you.

He couldn't help but cry as you asked him to smile for you last time that's all you wanted before going down. He smiled at you even though it was hard.

After your death he was empty. But what broke him was seeing you as one of the zombies.

He just realized how much in pain you had to be and not end up dying even and slowly turning into a zombie.

He couldn't fight you as he decided to give up and become a zombie.

Mondo Oowada

He allways protected you and you protected him.

Your base was well equipped so you had to watch out. Yet it wasn't big of a deal since you didn't see any humans often it was about 2 weeks since you saw anyone.

You decided to go on exploration while Mondo whould stay. He wasn't too sure about it and wanted to take your place but you insisted to go.

If you weren't so stubborn you whouldn't get yourself kidnapped. The ones that caught you were silent while you you tried to get information.

It was matter of seconds untill Mondo was there after receiving letter. When he saw you tied up he was ready to kick some ass.

He didn't thought that there was a way of reasoning with someone who was stupid enough to mess with you. He got them all pretty fast but took few hits aswell of course none of them died.

When you two escaped you didn't expect getting ambushed by zombies. It was the worst possible time you two ran and you managed to trip if Mondo helped you he whould die for sure so you yelled to him that he should run.

You tried to stand up but zombies alredy started attacking you so it's safe to say that you are dead.

Mondo couldn't run but you yelled at him to go and live.

When he was in safe spot he felt like everything was collapsing he couldn't belive how weak he was not being able to protect you.

He felt like a coward. It was his fault. Why? Why did he did nothing and watched you die? He should be the one dead.

And so he fell into so much despair he couldn't take it... He couldn't belive how weak he was.

Makoto Naegi

You allways helped those in need so you were surprised that someone whould kidnap you just to get some of your supplies.

It all happened quite fast and you still don't understand those people. But well guess you have to wait for Makoto to come and get you.

The group of bikers was small but still Makoto couldn't fight them. He got few supplies and they freed you but as they saw that there are much less than its supposed to be fight started.

You and Makoto focused on running but when you got a weapon it got better.

You were surprised to see bikers run away but as you turned around there was an army of zombies.

While you tried to escape you saw how impossible it was. You yelled at Makoto to run you couldn't let him die. The last thing he'd do is leave you.

After you got bitten there was no hope for you. Makoto knew he had to run.

When it was over and you were already dead Makoto didn't stop on helping others but he missed you so much. There was a lot of people around him yet he felt so lonely.

Makoto didn't knew what can he do without you. At the end he decided to give away his life because he didn't wanted to live in world without you.

~Mod Chiaki

[crazynekochan]

KH2 (prt1): Cuz of them taking her good source of power, Junko decided to recruit more people and find the newly created seven pure beacons of hope, planning to shatter them all so that nothing would stand in her way. Gundham and Nagito who heard all of this quickly told the others but now Gundham has to go low as Kaz’s starting to suspect him. Now it’s a race to find the beacons of hope before Junko comes and kill them. The NewHope trio, Truth trio, Chisa and Koichi were sent to find them.

KH2 (prt2): Those new hopes being Asahina, Ishimaru, Maki, Komaru, Himiko, Chihiro and Rantaro. Chihiro and Ishi were both guarded by Mondo, Asahina’s the queen of the sea with her guard Sakura, Himiko’s a mage with her 2 friends Tenko and Angie, Maki is a lone darkness hunter, no one knows where Rantaro is but since Komaru’s Naegi’s sister she was the easiest to save thanks to the help of Toko who was with her.

KH2 (prt3): However they have to deal with a new threat, the Hope Killers which were Jataro, Kotoko, Monica, Nagisa and Masaru. They managed to defeat them but the Hope killers fled to find the other hopes. Meanwhile, Jin and the Future Foundation were in charge of trying to wake Kyosuke up and separating his body from Juzo’s heart. It proved to be a challenge since not only was Juzo’s heart not willing to let go but Kyosuke’s magic was keeping the heart with him.

KH2 (prt4): The leads of this were Tengan, Mitarai, Miu, Kiibo and Tsumugi. Mukuro then finds Tsumugi and kidnaps her and plunges her into despair before sending her back as a spy to take Kyosuke back. Kiibo found out and was about to tell Jin when the Despair Tsumugi put a spell onto him by giving him voices in his head, preventing him from telling to which Miu had to pull him out in order to see what’s wrong. That left 3 in the group and it didn’t take long until Tsumugi got to Tengan too.

KH2 (prt5): The NewHope trio first found Asahina and it didn’t take long to convince her to come, after they saved her kingdom from a kraken sent by Junko and Jataro. The Truth trio then went to Himiko where only Kaede was allowed to talk to Himiko cuz of Tenko and they convinced her to come alongside Angie and Tenko but we’re confronted by the Monokubs, which they defeated. Koichi helped Ishi and Chi to save Mondo when he was thrown into despair thanks to Izuru.

KH2 (prt6): Koichi personally confronts Izuru who hints that it’s a shame that he’s also acting like a decoy. Realising that their goal was also to recapture Kyosuke, Koichi quickly went back, only to discover that the remnants have attacked. Chiaki tried to bring her friends out but Body!Juzo was keeping her out of sight so Koichi ran to assist her. After the seige, it’s revealed that Tsumugi and Tengan has switched sides, much to Gozu’s dismay and that they took Kyosuke.

KH2 (prt6-7): Realising what he meant, Koichi quickly returned with them only to find that Tsumugi and Tengan have took Kyosuke and have brainwashed Gozu to rampage around. With the help of Jin and Kiibo who’s fine now, they fought Gozu and snapped him out of it. Jin quickly called everyone back to an emergency meeting.

KH2 (prt7): They discusses on what to do next when Mind!Juzo suddenly goes off to find Kyosuke. Meanwhile, Gundham and Nagito are told of the situation and tried to find Kyosuke, only for Kaz to confront them. Thinking that they’re traitors, Kaz fought them but was defeated, Gundham quickly told Kaz that Chiaki was alive but he didn’t believe it and fled. Junko meanwhile found an idea to remove Juzo’s heart from Kyosuke by reuniting the heart with his body which worked but-

KH2 (prt8):- HeartBody Juzo was only loyal to Kyosuke. Seeing as how that is, Junko tried to manipulate him but it didn’t work and Juzo escapes with Kyosuke and with the sisters hunting them down. He knows he doesn’t have the will to fight them and since his heart and body were loosely connected since he’s missing his mind, he hid Kyosuke while finding a way to wake him up, trusting no one but himself. I’m sorry if it’s bad it was hard for me to do this, please let me know about what you think.

---

Mod: Great continuation. It’s a great idea to bring in a version of the “new princesses of light” (I wonder why their story wasn’t really explored in KH3?) and the choices of who they should be is perfect, as all of them are indeed good people to the core. Plus the fact that they can bring in the other characters as well

I also love what you did with the WoH and their new role here, as it ties in well with their canon role to capture and guard the hostages in the games. Only that here they are out to kill from the start, but they can still make a game out of it

That Tsumugi is a great spy (as in mastermind who actually moves around in the open unlike the other two) is a given, since she can make herself seem as unthreatening as she wants to. Same with Tengan. Though poor Kiibo, I feel bad for them ;-;

The idea of Junko fusing back together Juzo’s body and heart to get to the magic stored within Kyosuke is great. Especially since the body is then still mindless and as such works on pure instinct, which is harder to predict at the very beginning. I mean most people would probably predict him to just be a loyal puppet who can be formed by Junko and not actually run away with Kyosuke’s sleeping body

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 8/21/19

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 4 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – Aside from praising Iris’s innovations, this volume focuses more on the political end of things than the commerce end. Iris ends up attending the ball, and it goes better than she expected, mostly as the Queen Dowager is in her corner. In fact, honestly, things may go a little TOO well—the entire ball seems engineered to show off how the guy who dumped and exiled Iris is a hothead idiot, and Yuri seems to be doing an excellent job of manipulating the country into… running itself into the ground. But how invested should Iris be in all this, especially as she has to look out for her own nation, because there’s war on the horizon. Still an excellent political drama. – Sean Gaffney

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 7 | By Bisco Hatori | Viz Media – I enjoy Bisco Hatori’s humor, but her plotting is not a thing to behold. That said, as predicted, things resolved with the Ruka plotline, followed by a quick epilogue showing the film Goda made (honestly, the plot of the film sounds like a manga I’d love to see Hatori write), and then another epilogue several years later showing the two pairings (mostly) resolved and the two stars at ease with themselves and successful. There’s fun to be had here, but I can’t deny that I think this started a lot stronger than it ended, and I’m glad it did not end up as long as Ouran. I’d still recommend it to Hatori fans, though. Oh yes, and the amnesia arc proves to be as inconsequential as I suspected it would be. – Sean Gaffney

Cocoon Entwined, Vol. 1 | By Yuriko Hara | Yen Press – Hoshimiya Girls’ Academy has a unique tradition. The students have exceedingly long hair, and as the middle school third-year students are being measured for their high school uniforms, the high school third-years are finally having their hair cut, which will be used to make said uniforms. Cocoon Entwined so far is light on plot, heavy on atmosphere. We meet Yokozawa, a girl who seems to be able to sense breathing and/or heartbeats from the uniforms, and Saeki, the princely girl whom Yokozawa has feelings for. We don’t meet, except in flashback, the elusive Hoshimiya, granddaughter of the headmistress, who has locked herself in her room and for whom Saeki seemingly pines, much to Yokozawa’s dismay. I really liked this volume, even though there’s not a lot happening so far. I look forward to more, whenever it comes. – Michelle Smith

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 6 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – Thankfully, and despite Kadode assuring her friends that something happened, it’s suggested nothing did, and the teacher is leaving the city due to the ongoing chaos. Honestly, the world may not have all that long to go—even if the aliens don’t bring things to an end, can Japan really hold off America and everyone else? This still has a bit of a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Still, Futaba does end up getting lucky, so to speak, though the implication is that her politics and his desire for a non-serious relationship will make that a very short relationship. The best part of the story was Oran’s surprise birthday party, which was sweet as pie. I hope there’s more sweet moments ahead. – Sean Gaffney

Emanon, Vol. 1: Memories of Emanon | By Shinji Kaijo and Kenji Tsuruta | Dark Horse – I initially picked up Emanon due to Tsuruta’s involvement since I’ve been enjoying Wandering Island; I only later realized that Kaijo is an award-winning author. The Emanon manga is an adaptation of a series of stories written by Kaijo (also illustrated by Tsuruta) featuring a young woman who calls herself Emanon. Kaijo’s somewhat melancholic but engaging narratives lend themselves well to Tsuruta’s atmospheric artwork. There’s very little action in the first volume of the manga. For the most part, Tsuruta is capturing a reminiscence of a conversation between two people, a young man who enjoys speculative fiction and Emanon. She intrigues him, not only because of the air of mystery surrounding her but because she tells him that she holds memories reaching back to the beginning of life on Earth. Memories of Emanon, adapting Kaijo’s original story, is self-contained, but I’m greatly looking forward to the continuation of the series. – Ash Brown

Idol Dreams, Vol. 6 | By Arina Tanemura | VIZ Media – It’s been almost two years since I read a volume of Idol Dreams. I’d stop short of saying it has gotten good in the intervening time—there’s a lot of melodrama here, from the death of Hibiki’s little sister and him carrying on despite his grief (leading to the spectacularly cheesy line, “Sayaka, can you hear Hibiki singing?”) to the plotline revolving around Hanami’s pregnancy and the fact that it isn’t Tokita’s—but it’s certainly somewhat better, and I think that’s because this volume puts much more emphasis on Deguchi as an adult interacting with adults rather than her masquerading as a teen interacting with teens. It was even a little gratifying to see this mousey character haul off and smack Hanami for leaving Tokita at the altar. Do I care enough to keep reading? Maybe, especially if the next volume is the final one. – Michelle Smith

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 37 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | VIZ Media – And so, Magi comes to an end. There were some things I really liked about it, like how Ohtaka-sensei showed how Alibaba’s unfailing determination to fight the spell reminded various brainwashed people of other heroes they had known who had sacrificed everything for goals and countries that would no longer exist if everyone and everything returned to rukh. I liked how Kogyoku was desperately trying to get him to surrender to her before the arrival of the massive army in an attempt to save his life. The rest, though, is not completely clear. I get most of what Sinbad did, but I don’t really get how Aladdin emerged victorious. There was a big flash of light and then… happy epilogue? Which I guess is fine. The happy epilogue was what I really wanted, anyway. Overall, I enjoyed this series and its themes of self-determination. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia, Vol. 20 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – This is an excellent volume, but it’s definitely a “wrap up one plot and start another” sort of book. Midoriya stops the “villains” and we see the small series of tragedies behind their backstory. He makes it back for the festival—just—and it’s a blast, with Jiro at her best (the redrawn art helps) and Eri dazzled. Then we see the new hero rankings post-All Might, and Endeavor is finally top of the charts, but being #1 also means that people are after you as well, and there’s a pretty nasty fight towards the end. Will Endeavor win the day? And will Todoroki care? Great volume, but I think it’s all about Jiro and Eri’s big grins in the end. Those are wonderful smiles. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 5 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Media – Ten has realized she likes Riku after all and returns early after summer vacation because he’s alone in the boardinghouse. Meanwhile, Chiaki is getting bolder about expressing his feelings. The great part is that not only does he get this pertain to Ten—including a smooch at the end and a “What can I do so that you consider me?”—but to Riku, as well. Chiaki’s oddball personality is starting to come through, and the best chapter here is a cute interlude where he lies about the origins of a cup Riku broke so that they can go out shopping for a replacement together. It involves Riku winning an enormous bag of potato chips for Chiaki from a crane game. I’m not super invested in the romance angle of this story, but I do like the main trio of characters! – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 4 | By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – There’s an attempt to ramp up the danger here, given that we’re dealing with the death of NPCs, who technically aren’t real people (though honestly, most of SAO has been built around proving that false lately) and the fact that this time you really can log out and go back to your life. But the threat of the game being hacked, as well as users using drugs to “enhance” their experience, means that this time the Japanese government may finally shut down all these VR games for good—something that Kirito and Asuna in particular are determined to stop. Can they help save Premiere from her fate? And what about Anti-Premiere? – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 10 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – As expected, Okamon is shot down (very nicely) by Hana. Of course, Takane misunderstands. Indeed, the entire volume is about misunderstandings and poor communication, which is always a good fallback in romantic comedies like this one. We also get the backstory on how Takane met Nicola, and how, like Hana, he was at first completely annoyed by him till he saw his hidden nice side. There are not quite as many amusing faces as previous volumes (though the omake helps make up a lot of the difference). But in return we do get a bit more on the romance front, as a drunken Takane (they had a birthday party for him) ends up kissing Hana… on the nose. That said, the effect is devastating. Fun times. – Sean Gaffney

Yuri Life | By Kurukuruhime | Yen Press – We’ve seen quite a few yuri anthologies about adults lately and this one is a 4-koma one-shot, with each chapter focusing on a different couple, until we come around to the first one at the end. There are couples I found interesting. (One involves the Grim Reaper waiting for a woman to die, falling in love with her, and then having her romance be what enables the woman to keep living… so they have to part.) I will say they are “mostly” adult romances… one is teacher-student, with the student being sixteen, and it didn’t work for me. Nor did the one about the “yandere.” Still, there were more hits than misses, and if you’re looking for cute, sweet yuri that won’t stick in the head, this is decent enough. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

[the-apocryphal-one]

More than a Waifu: or, an analysis on Chiaki

This was typed up for a thing over on reddit, and I decided to share it here because I already put several hours into it, no sense letting it go to waste, right? Basically, it’s an analysis on Chiaki (both of them) and why she’s an interesting and relatable character, beyond mere “waifu bait”, as she is sometimes derogatorily called.

I’m aware DR3 doesn’t have the best reputation among the fanbase, but I still think covering the Chiaki there is important for understanding AI Chiaki, and I genuinely like her. So, let’s start:

Chiaki in DR3:

We’re introduced to Chiaki Nanami in the first episode when she literally bumps into Hajime while playing her game. After a couple seconds, she mumbles that she’s okay and is ready to move on with her life when he asks if she’s playing Gala Omega. Her blank demeanor changes and she becomes super excited, talking about how it’s such a classic and asking him how many times he’s played it as she gets up in his face. At this moment, Chisa arrives to pick her up, and before she leaves, Chiaki tells Hajime she thinks having a talent isn’t a big deal—“all I have are games”, while he can “go anywhere and become anything”.

An intro should establish some character traits, and this does a good job—she’s into games, she’s got some social awkwardness issues (not noticing she’s literally walked into someone or that he’s holding his hands up when she enters his personal space), she’s kind, and she doesn’t think much of herself or her talent. She’s also got some cute, romantically-lit moments with Hajime, establishing herself as #1 love interest candidate and a potential friend/emotional support.

Over the course of DR3, she has an arc where she grows from loner to class rep (and no she did not do this in less than a day, there’s mention of multiple lunches or classes, so it took her several to put everything together), becoming the heart of Class 77 and bringing them all together. She doesn’t do this on her own, however, because she feels that she can’t make friends with games—it takes Chisa’s encouragement to get her to try, and later Chisa’s pushing and nomination for her to actually accept the class rep position. She also, as expected, becomes Hajime’s friend at Hope’s Peak, reassuring him whenever he dwells on his lack of talent. Unfortunately, she’s not able to do enough to help him, and after he gets beaten down by Juzo Sakakura in Episode 3, he goes through with the Kamukura Project, disappearing for a whole year.

Episodes 4-7 don’t show us much of Chiaki, probably because they’re very focused on first Nagito, then Junko, Ryota, and Izuru. When we do see her, she’s usually looking sad, playing a game as she waits at their old haunts. I have my grips with this section because Episode 4 should have had more focus on Class 77’s reaction to Twilight Syndrome, to say nothing of how the six-month timeskip in Episode 5 should have been an episode of itself, because that would have been a great time to show more of her leadership growth. The qualities exist, but like almost everything else, they’re brushed over. Her waiting around does, however, indicate she’s very attached to Hajime and either very patient, clingy, or both, which makes sense—her various comments in Episode 1 indicate she had no friends before HPA, and he was the first one she made.

Anyway, after Episode 7 and the Tragedy of Hope’s Peak Academy, the Reserve Course starts parading, Mikan goes missing, and to top it off, it’s raining. Nagito makes his return from his year-long suspension, telling everyone he saw Mikan on the grounds, and they all split up to look for him—Chiaki going with Nagito. They stumble across the real Ryota Mitarai and Junko Enoshima, where Nagito reveals that he plans to kill her so she can be a stepping stone for hope. Chiaki protests at the idea of killing anyone, but its all moot as Nagito spends too long on speeches and Izuru comes in and shoots him. Chiaki recognizes Izuru as Hajime, but he doesn’t recognize her, and while they’re holding gazes, Chisa comes in to rescue them! But she stays behind to cover their escape. So Chiaki half-carries Nagito back to their class, where she rallies them together to go back and save their teacher and Hajime! And here is where everything goes downhill for her, because of her.

First, let’s just start with the fact that she didn’t tell anyone where they were going, or even leave this to the authorities. We know they have cell phones, we see her using hers as a light, and we know there are police. Hell, someone should have stayed behind with Nagito, who is half-conscious and just got shot in the chest—probably Mikan since she’s the nurse. Nobody in Class 77 thinks of this, but I hold Chiaki the most accountable since she’s their leader. She was warned several times—first by Chisa herself telling her to leave, then by Peko coming in injured from her fight with Mukuro, and then by Nagito Komaeda telling them to give up (and while he says he was testing her, she has no way of knowing that at the time)—and she still charged in, without a real plan and without a way out if things went wrong. She genuinely believed they could do this, that the power of their bonds as a class would triumph and save the day like in one of her video games. So no need for planning, right? Wrong.

Her attempted rescue goes exactly as well as you’d expect—Junko outplays them, separates Chiaki from the group, traps her in a dungeon, and then brutally tortures her to death while making Class 77 watch. It’s still really sad two years later and I’m not going to cover everything she goes through, but even here she still shows her grit and determination as she struggles on through a lot of wounds to make it to the end. Which is a trap, of course, and she’s impaled several times over. With that, Junko successfully brainwashes Class 77 into despair—which is a sticky issue among the franchise, and one I’m not gonna get into more than to point out that it was a combination of the brainwashing and the death that made them Ultimate Despair; Chiaki’s death on its own wouldn’t have worked.

Izuru comes in to talk to her, at which point she starts crying as she talks about how she regrets not being able to help anyone, how she doesn’t want to die, and how she just wanted to play games with him again. After she stops moving, he then picks up her hairpin and cries too, and is seen carrying it around with him after. It’s been established multiple times in Dangan Ronpa that people who lose their memories still carry feelings; Ryoko is still in love with Yasuke, Toko and Genocider both share their feelings for Byakuya and friendship for Komaru, and both the DR and SDR2 casts reform their bonds very quickly. So Izuru retaining Hajime’s feelings for Chiaki follows the series’ trend.

That’s pretty much the end of her story, except for two things—one, her struggle, speech, and death motivate Izuru to examine hope as something that could bring unpredictability into his life, which is why he masterminds the Killing School Trip. And two, in said Killing School Trip, there’s an AI who scans the patients’ memories so it can form their ideal person. As it happens, the entire class had an ideal person in mind, leading to…

AI Chiaki:

AI Chiaki stays in the background for most of the prologue—she doesn’t make herself a huge presence, like the Imposter or Nagito. Hajime’s introduction to her is similar to her DR3 counterpart, in that she’s gaming and there are some long pauses where she doesn’t respond, but it’s also relatively different. For one, she starts to nod off near the end of the conversation, and for another she stays relatively calm all throughout it. I mention this because while she’s based off human!Chiaki, she’s not the same person as her, and has her own differences—two of them being, she falls asleep a lot (theorized to be because she’s an AI and ‘loading’, but there’s no real proof of that), and she’s far calmer and more rational. The fact they aren’t the same person is something I think needs to be emphasized, because I know there are some people who consider them the same character.

In the first chapter, she’s relatively minor, keeping to herself. The moment she first starts to stand out is at the party, where she offers to stand guard with Monomi, and after the Imposter is murdered, where she uses her knowledge of video games to suggest keeping watch at the crime scene. She’s useful throughout the trial, but her big moment comes around the time Nagito reveals himself to not be your “ally character” like you’d thought, which I think is good timing. She makes the deduction that the ‘killer’ found their way to the table using the lamp cord, which stops everyone from giving up and moves the case forward.

After this, she becomes more important during the chapters—she’s Hajime’s primary investigation partner in Chapter 2, she helps him investigate the hospital in Chapter 3, she puts together what she thinks is a map of the Funhouse in Chapter 4, she stops Hajime from going into the Final Dead Room in that same chapter, and she’s a trial-point-getter up until her death. Before I cover that, I’m going to cover something else—her personality, or why calling her a Mary Sue is just using a stupid blanket term that doesn’t even make sense—*deep breath*

AI Chiaki is strange. If you’ve heard the term ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’, she’s like that, except instead of drawing the protagonist in with her strangeness, she irritates him. She’s either falling asleep when they investigate a new area, or she’s got her head in the clouds. And when she wants people to go somewhere, like to or from the ruins in Chapter 2, she gets a little forceful about making sure they go to that place. In the first two chapters, Hajime makes several inward comments about how annoying or pushy she is. Even after he’s warmed to her, he still gets baffled by her train of thought, sometimes wondering, “what even is this conversation?” She’s also kind of childish, which makes sense since she hasn’t been alive very long—during the Chapter 3 investigation, she tries to pull a prank on Hajime by pretending she wants him to gouge his eyes out before turning on the light in a room, because it’d be embarrassing if he “saw”. It’s like something in a bad anime, and it falls flat on its face. The writing and drawings in her diary are sloppy and crude, more akin to what you’d see from a pre-schooler than a teenage girl. This quirkiness is endearing on the surface, but in-universe, it’s not.

Her Free-Time Events also show that she lacks a lot of basic knowledge about the world, like what Girls’ Day is or where milk comes from, and mentions the flaw tied back to that strangeness—she doesn’t get dating sims. Or, to be more serious, she doesn’t get people. In her words, she’s not good at games where she has to maintain relationships and guess what characters are feeling. She can be good at the latter (which I’ll mention below), but she also makes her share of misses (as mentioned above) and isn’t the greatest at knowing when to share her guesses. She’s nervous about how people will react when she does something, and feels she’s best standing on the sidelines. This is why she doesn’t take a leadership role except in trials—the Imposter tries first, so she doesn’t feel it necessary, and after he dies the group just…splinters. You’ve got Kazuichi and Nekomaru tying up Nagito, Akane running off to fight Monokuma, Fuyuhiko sulking on his own, Hiyoko bullying Mikan, they’re a mess. She’s good at games dealing with calculations, so she can handle the trials, but she doesn’t feel like she can handle her classmates, so she doesn’t try—and this ties back to her human counterpart well. Yes, human!Chiaki became class rep, but only after being pushed to by Chisa. Without that push, she would have stayed on her own, like AI Chiaki does. It’s a nice little character trait that got strengthened by the anime, in my opinion.

So she’s kind of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, except her strangeness isn’t what makes Hajime like and rely on her more—it’s the moments where she’s kind and sensible. Like her human counterpart, she has a strong moral compass, and whenever she displays it, that’s when Hajime’s impressed. She’s usually compassionate towards the murderers and even jerks like Hiyoko or pre-development Fuyuhiko. She’s insightful, if a bit insensitive, like when she suggests the reason Fuyuhiko lived isn’t because of luck, but because Peko deliberately sacrificed herself for him, while Fuyuhiko is in the room and feeling depressed that is Peko is dead. Surprise, surprise, being reminded that Peko died for him makes his mood take a dive and he just wants to be left alone. She also has a very firm stance on killing: it’s wrong.

Throughout the game, AI Chiaki makes declarations that she hates the murders and won’t allow it to happen, but she frequently fails to accomplish this. In Chapter 1, she stands guard, but she’s at the completely wrong area to stop a murder (and even if she were in the cabin, she probably couldn’t have stopped it anyway). In Chapter 2, she plays the game, but doesn’t get the special prize before Fuyuhiko. In Chapter 3, she tries to find a cure for the despair disease with everyone else, but a murder happens first. In Chapter 4, there’s nothing to be done except starve to death. Her efforts are either wasted or not good enough.

Chapter 5 is the first time where she really could have made a difference—the conflict of that chapter is that Nagito is seeking the Future Foundation ‘traitor’, which is her, and takes increasingly drastic measures to do so. First by blowing up the hotel, then by threatening to blow up an island, and finally by masterminding his own death to get everyone but the traitor executed. As Chiaki herself muses in the final trial, if the traitor had revealed themselves, maybe Nagito wouldn’t have gone so far…except she literally couldn’t, because it was against her programming. When she was able to earlier help, her actions weren’t enough to prevent a killing; now that her actions could have prevented it, she is unable to do them. All she can do is drop a butt-ton of hints that she’s the traitor, forcing Hajime to oust her in order to save everyone else.

And there’s the crux. For all her declarations, all her tries, she’s powerless. Her programming, her very nature, makes her powerless. She could break it enough to think that she wanted to save everyone, and that’s incredible, but she needed the others’ help to complete her sacrifice. If Hajime hadn’t gone along with her, or if her diary hadn’t been found to prove she was the traitor, would she have been able to convince them anyway? We don’t know. What we do know is that her thinking freely is a miracle, yet she was still bound by her coding.

Her execution probably highlights the differences between her and her human counterpart the best—while human!Chiaki is crying, gasping in pain, and screaming, AI Chiaki keeps a relatively blank face all throughout. She doesn’t panic or flinch when the huge tank is bearing down on her, nor when Tetris blocks are falling all around her. She tries to escape, but when she has nowhere to run, she accepts it. She goes to her death willingly and with a smile, whereas human!Chiaki had a more, well, human reaction of not wanting to die.

Finally, AI Chiaki makes an appearance to Hajime in the last trial, when he’s spiraling into despair and doubt over all the pressure being placed on him. She delivers a speech about how he’s not part of the game and can make his own future, while reassuring him that she knows he’s scared and that she will never disappear so long as they keep moving forward. She also acts more like her human counterpart here, reciting words human Chiaki told Izuru (“If you just do it, things will work out okay!”) and referencing that she knew him in the past. The scene is pretty ambiguous about whether she’s really there or just Hajime’s hallucination/memories, and I think it’s the better for it, honestly. However, some small part of her is able to help him defeat AI Junko, as shown by her declaring “no, that’s wrong!” in time with him, and she answers his thanks (after he’s gone, of course) with a declaration that she’ll always be watching them…from somewhere. It’s a poignant moment made more poignant when you compare it to last chapter; then, who and what she was—a traitor and an AI—stopped her from preventing a disaster, and it was only with Hajime’s help that she was able to successfully sacrifice herself. Here, who and what she is—Chiaki Nanami, Hajime’s emotional support/love interest/friend/potential ghost or hallucination—is what enables her to successfully prevent a disaster, and she’s able to lift Hajime up on her own.

She doesn’t show up in Side:Hope for more than a brief moment, and fun fact, it’s still ambiguous if she’s really there and if Hajime can see her or not—his dialogue is written in a way that could be construed as him talking to himself. Her brief screentime has her explaining what I explained at the beginning—that she’s an AI who took on Chiaki’s form from their memories—and that this is the future she gave her life for. She then fades away with a smile as Hajime rejoins the rest of the class.

Conclusion:

Frankly, I think there’s a lot to love about Chiaki. She’s a socially-awkward gamer, which is something a lot of us either like (being gamers) or can relate to. She has an arc about growing from that loner to someone who can be counted on. She’s a sweetheart who does her best to help her friends succeed; sometimes that isn’t enough, like DR3 Chiaki, and sometimes she needs help herself, like AI Chiaki, but she doesn’t let it stop her from still trying. There are stumbles in DR3 Chiaki’s writing, but I still believe she’s a good character, and that both she and her AI counterpart have nice relationships with Hajime and Class 77. They’re great girls, and I hope this analysis helped fans remember what we love about Chiaki beyond “she’s my waifu”.

[starevotranslations]

White Day

It’s been awhile happy white day!

Kei: Happy White Day! Everyone it's been awhile! Have you guys been holding up okay? I say that but it's only been two months. Even so we've seen all the support you guys are giving us! We've been practicing everyday so we can stand on the huge stage again someday, so look forward to that! Well, until next time!

Jun: Happy White Day. It's been awhile since I've been able to send a message like this, hasn't it. And thank you for still sending letters after that. Of course all your letters have been put in a safe place. As for unit activities, it's exactly as Kei said, and I too have no intention of giving up. I'll keep doing everything I can until the day our dream of standing on that brilliant stage again becomes a reality.

Rin: Happy White Day! It's been awhile! I'm glad to see you again! There's just so much I want to talk to you about but for today I'll tell you how grateful I am. Thank you so much for always cheering me on. I believe that we'll absolutely meet again. So please believe too!

Chiaki: Happy White Day! Yo, long time no see! You good? I've been practicing and working as usual. But y'know I've been feeling a bit lonely because you aren't around. You didn't come see me on Valentines day either. But if you can't come see me then I can come see you, right? Just you wait, I'll definitely come see you.

Noel: Happy White Day. Fufu, it seems like you've gotten cuter in the time we haven't been able to see each other. Were you maybe doing everything you could in anticipation of when we could meet again? You don't have to try so hard, I love you as you are so don't worry. Now how about we talk about love until the day ends.

Seia: Happy White Day. Oh right, it's White Day today. Thank you as always. Until the day I can see your smile that's bright like the twinkling stars again. Fufu, I'm good at waiting you know. So I'll wait as long as it takes. If I'm able to see you again then even this time is precious.

Kaito: Happy White Day. It's been awhile hasn't it. You holding up good? I've been... Well... Same as always... Dealing with eccentrics is a pain. But when we're all together it feels like we're working harder at practice. I'm working hard too of course. Everyone must be looking forward until we can see you again huh.

Mio: Happy White Day☆彡 Mio fans from all over the country~☆ Long time no see~♪ Did you miss me?? Well then today I'll send you so much loving~♥ That's what I want to say but I'm almost done with this tweet... Hold on! Just let me have like 10 more tweets!!

Yuki: Happy White Day. It's been awhile. You doing okay? Everyday is busy for me as usual, I actually forgot it was White Day today. Sorry I don't even have one treat ready, so instead... Let me say, thank you for everything. I look forward to the day we can meet again.

Akira: Happy White Day! Hey hey! I was thinking the student council should have an event today. but what do you think would be good? I was thinking something like a white chocolate fountain or white chocolate Russian roulette would be cool! It'll be lit so come if you have time! I'll be waiting~!

Nozomi: Happy White Day. It's White Day today huh. Have you gotten a gift from someone? ... No, never mind please don't worry about it. I would have liked to get you a gift this year but doing so this year would have been difficult. So what should I tell you instead, thank you for everything. Lets meet again.

Senya: I told you already, even if it's "a special day" I don't have anything. If you want a treat then go somewhere else. ... It doesn't matter that we haven't seen each other in awhile. And anyways, since it's you I think we'll meet again. So it's fine if I just act the same as always, right? ... (sigh) Fine then. Happy White Day.

Tera: Happy White Day! You all doing good~? I've been feeling really good~☆ I really couldn't wait to see you today! Huh, why? Because it means I can feed you treats today! You're gonna accept them, won't you? Then close your eyes... Okay, say A~h♪

Giga: Happy White Day! You all doing good~? I've been feeling really good~☆ I was really looking forward to today! Huh, why? Because I get you feed you the sweets I got for you! You'll let me, won't you? Alright, if you'll close your eyes then... Okay, say A~h♪

Takuto: Happy White Day Koneko-chan❤️ I have a return gift for you, of course, is a kiss okay? Huh, no way? How about a kiss on the cheek? A hug? That's a no too? Fufu, are you embarrassed? Well, I like that part of you too. I get it, I'll just show my gratitude. Thanks for everything. I really love you.

Rito: Huh? White Day? (sigh), God everyone's being so obnoxious with their celebrating. You know it's up to me if I do returns for Valentines day gifts you just pushed onto me because you wanted to. If you want some insincere gratitude, then fine I'll say it. "Thanks." Happy now? I have nothing for girls that get swept up in flirting with other guys.

Shiita: Happy~ White Day~ Huh~ It's been awhile hasn't it~ Oh right, it's finally starting to get warmer huh~ I wonder if I can sleep outside again soon~? I want to sleep under a sakura tree when it gets a little warmer~ It would be nice if you were there with me too~ (yawn)~ well then, good night~ ...

Hayate: Happy White Day! Oh, I haven't seen you in awhile! I wanted to make something good for you but I had way too many ideas and I have no idea what to do... So I came to ask you myself! What do you want to eat? I'll let you be selfish today so just tell me whatever you like!

Mizuki: Happy White Day! I've been waiting for you~! I say that but I don't have any treats for you~ So I thought today I'd give you a song as thanks. Ah, and don't sweat I won't get hurt from singing or anything☆ ... It isn't as good as Rudy's songs but I want to show you how thankful I am.

Rudy: ... What? White Day? ... But I don't have anything for you. Anyways I'm composing right now so don't bug me. (sigh)... Fine, I'll play piano for you. ... What song do you want. If you don't hurry up and say something I won't play.

Yui: Happy White Day! Imouto-chan! Since it's White Day today I made treats! Fufu, I put my all into making them so I'm sure they're super yummy! But those ones aren't your present. These candies are the ones that are just for you. Why candy? Well that's a secret♪ Well, I suppose it might have something to do with Yui's feelings♥

Kanata: Happy White Day! Nee-chan! It's been a super long time huh! Where have you been! Well, whatever! Y'know today I have another amazing experiment I've been waiting to show you! And later I gotta tell you about all kinds of things that happened while you were gone, so you better not go home yet!

Ai: Happy White Day Onee-san! Huh? Onee-san you seem so much prettier than before. Fufu, I'm not messing with you. I've been working on getting cooler you know. So next time we see eachother I'm sure I'll be much cooler! I'm not letting go of you yet so get ready Onee-san.

Maru-chan: And one more time from hamu, Happy White Day hamu~!🍬 Thank you for all your letters too hamu~💌✨ Hamu’s also looking forward to the day we can meet again hamu💕 Have a great White Day hamu~!😊

[creative-frequency]

The Pianist: Part One

Word count: 3170 Warnings/Categories: Mature, sexual themes, fluff Pairing: Blind!Ignis Scientia x Female Reader Notes: You are the pianist of Altissia’s Grand Orchestra and the time has come for the annual celebration of the Dawn Break in Insomnia. Same universe as in Cinderelia. Part 1 of 4.

This fic has been in the works since last August and it was intended as a oneshot, but My Hand Slipped™ so here you go. Riko Chiaki is @lucianhuntress‘s OC.

Songs: FFXV OST - Valse di Fantastica, Piano arrangement Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 7 K 242

An excerpt from Cinderelia:

Noctis had requested the grand orchestra from Altissia since he knew Ignis enjoyed the classical tunes with heavy piano melodies. Noctis had not said anything aloud, but Ignis knew he had done it for him and he was grateful for the thoughtful gesture. Noctis had not ever before showed an interest in classical music.

Part One: The Welcome

The second annual celebration of the Dawn Break was to be held in three weeks. The grand orchestra from Altissia – your orchestra – had been asked to perform in the party. You had heard that it was a massive event, gathering every notable person on Eos to pay their respects to the Chosen King of Light, or something.

Your orchestra had played in the event on the previous year too, but due to some health problems, you had not been able to travel. Your health had not really improved during the year, but you had become determined to see Insomnia in her newly-restored glory. Also seeing the person, who had literally saved the world, in flesh was exciting to put it mildly. You had heard a great deal of rumors about King Noctis Lucis Caelum and how the ladies fawned over him.

So two weeks before the ball was to be held, you had travelled with your orchestra over the sea to the port of Insomnia. You had been more concerned about the instrument you would be playing in front of such prestigious audience than the boat trip. Most of your colleagues had their own instruments with them, but yours would’ve been too arduous to move. The contact person in Insomnia had assured your orchestra leader that all the necessary instruments would be arranged and they would be of top quality, so you had nothing to worry about.

The concert grand piano you had back home in Altissia could only be described with one word: Exquisite. You knew each little indentation in the keys, wrought by time and the generations that had played it before you. It was made of beech, native to Duscae of Lucis, and subdued black in color. In your life you had played countless notes on that piano.

On the next day after your arrival to the Crown city, you were running late for the first meeting between your orchestra and the ball organizers. You could already feel the heavy glare of the orchestra leader on you. It would be really embarrassing to arrive as the last one to the meeting, but you would rather be late than having forgotten to bring your notes, which were the reason you had had to make a run back to the hotel in the first place.

You were phrasing an apology in your mind, trying to hold on to your precious note folder in one hand and not spill the take away coffee in another. If only you hadn’t stopped to buy that coffee, you might have been in time. Though then you might not have noticed the absence of your folder. The beverage was still hot, but you forced it down your throat in small sips as you jogged forward as fast as you were able to.

Fortunately, your hotel was just a short walk away from the Citadel, where the meeting was being held. You had been given an ID card, which you flashed around unnecessarily to all the guards and staff in the entrance hall. You had no idea where to go.

“Excuse me, I’m with the Altissian orchestra. I’m a bit late, but where is the, uh”–you glanced at the post-it note stuck on your folder cover–“Belouve Conference Room?”

You thought what an odd name it was to give to a room, but then again, you were talking about Insomnian royalty here. There were bound to be oddities compared to what you were used to living in Accordo.

“Good morning, Miss. May I see your–”

You waved the plastic patch in front of the receptionist. Did she not realize you were in a hurry? You sipped the bit cooled coffee with an irritated scowl. At least it was of drinkable temperature now.

“Ah, thank you. Take the elevator to the 23rd floor. The conference room is on the right side of the hallway.”

Before she could finish the sentence, you were already on your way. While staring anxiously at the numbers climbing up on the display, you sipped the coffee and mulled over the wording of an apology.

When the elevator doors had barely opened, you rushed out.

And bumped into someone.

The rest of the, luckily only warm, coffee splashed onto your chest.

You yelped. You had instinctively held your note folder high up, miles away from the coffee cup. That instinct was the only reason the folder was not covered in spreading dark stains like the rest of you.

“Apologies!” a man said politely and moved to the side to give you space to walk past him.

“No way!” you cried looking at the damage to your clothes. The accident was really all your fault, but that didn’t stop you from lashing out at the stranger. “Look at this mess! You should watch where you’re going!”

“I’m sorry. What happened?“ the man inquired apologetically.

“What?!” you snapped and tilted your face up from your shirt to look at him.

He looked a bit past you with a perplexed expression on his rather handsome face. He was wearing a pair of visors and underneath them you saw a large scar covering his left eye. His eyes were pale and the crippling mortification hit you.

He was blind.

You were raging at a blind man.

“I am so sorry!” you breathed. Your ears were burning from the shame and you had no idea what to do. Your shirt was soaked in coffee and the almost empty take out cup was still dangling in your hand. You took a look to make sure his clothes were stainless. What a great start for the day. Bathing in coffee had not been on your to do -list.

The man furrowed his brows lightly.

“Is everything okay? Are you hurt?” he asked concerned, “Is that smell… Ebony?”

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you thought that he had a really good nose – both in physical looks and in sense of smell.

“I’m okay! And super late, so excuse me!” With the items still held comically high in the air, you hurried past him to the conference room.

The orchestra leader gave you the most vicious glare as you silently entered the room and made your way to sit next to your friend and colleague, flutist Riko Chiaki.

“Where were you? You missed the Royal Advisor’s greeting,” she hissed quietly.

“Almost forgot my notes… He didn’t happen to be an ethereally beautiful blind person, did he?” you asked nonchalantly, the overwhelming shame still stinging your insides.

“How did you know?” Riko asked cocking an eyebrow with curiosity.

You sighed. “Great. Just great.”

On the same evening after dinner in a fancy restaurant, you returned to the Citadel alone and made your way to the venue where you would be performing in two weeks. You examined the ballroom as you walked through it towards the orchestra stage. It was plain, but the style fitted the rest of the Citadel in its temperate marble surfaces and elegant golden decorations.

You climbed on the stage. It was huge. Probably bigger than any you had ever performed on, but then again, maybe it just felt like that because the only instrument on stage was the one you would be playing.

You sat before the grand piano, placed your notes down and warmed your fingers by flexing and moving them. It felt both familiar and weird, since you had not been able to play for almost two days because of the traveling. Normally you played daily and as much as you could. If your back injury allowed something, it was sitting in front of a piano, and you were grateful for it every day.

The contact person had been true to his words: The concert grand piano seemed to be the most expensive one you had ever laid your hands on. Its outer rim was made of maple and painted in matte black. The keys felt completely new under your fingers – cool and smooth. Each press of a key made a sound that vibrated through the instrument and in the ball room. Soft and loud.

You tested out the sounds by playing a little this and that, making sure it was perfectly tuned. You needed to get a good feeling of the piano, since the upcoming concert was huge one. Mistakes would not be accepted. You tried to not think of the fact that you would be performing in front of royalty.

Gradually, your warming up took shape in Valse di Fantastica with a little faster tempo than it was intended to be played in. You were completely focused on the keys under your fingers. Your hands flew across them with the instincts that could only be achieved with immense practicing. The note sheet was placed before your eyes, but you knew the piece so well that you barely glanced at it.

Absorbed in your own bubble, you had no idea someone sat in the audience listening to your warm up and late rehearsal.

After you almost forcibly hit the last few notes, ending the piece with an audible sigh, a slow clapping echoed in the ballroom. Your heart jumped and you quickly tilted your gaze up to see to the audience.

The handsome Royal Advisor was standing in the middle of the room. When had he come in?

You wondered how you should greet him, since your last meeting had been catastrophic. The earlier shame still burned your cheeks and you cleared your throat to be able to speak.

You looked abashed as he walked to the edge of the stage and only then realized that he had no cane or any sort of prop to help him move around safely.

“We meet again,” the advisor said. He had a light, graceful smile on his lips that went perfectly together with the slim fitted shirt and grey nep trousers he was wearing.

“Ah, yes. Hello. Don’t worry, I don’t have coffee with me right now,” you greeted him with a nervous chuckle.

His smile widened and he climbed up to the stage. You were sitting still in front of the piano, completely stunned by the Royal Advisor’s presence. You couldn’t take your eyes off his face and half wondered would you have stared so shamelessly if you hadn’t known he was blind.

How could a man look so… perfect? You bit back an incredulous chuckle.

“Ignis Scientia. His Majesty’s advisor,” he offered his hand for you to shake, “You’re Lirona, am I correct?”

The excitement was distinguishable in his tone towards the end and it left you with mixed feelings. So he knew who you were? Or had he just gone through the trouble to check the info on all the members of the grand orchestra? Besides, how long had he been listening to you playing?

“Ah, yes, but that is only my stage name,” you explained as you shook Ignis’s hand. He had gloves on. How curious, you thought as you told your birth name to him.

Ignis tilted his head to the side and his brows furrowed in thought. “Oh? My apologies. It is a pleasure to meet you too.”

“So how did you know who I was?” you asked carefully.

“Besides the smell of Ebony you have about you?”

You blanched. “I-I’m so sorry a-about that!” you breathed, stammering nervously. The overwhelming feeling of embarrassment washed over you again, leaving your cheeks and ears burning in its wake. You had changed a clean shirt of course, but there had not been time to take a shower.

Ignis let out a chuckle. “It’s quite alright. Even though…” his voice trailed off into a thoughtful hum.

“Yes?” you urged him to continue. Any chance of saving the fiasco, that was your first meeting with the Royal Advisor, you would welcome gladly.

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to hear you play some more.”

You blinked and felt a whole another kind of embarrassment warm up your face. He would love to hear you play? Was he teasing you? His tone was so sincere, excited even.

“Of course, I understand if you’d rather rest until tomorrow’s rehearsal. You start at eight am, correct?” Ignis hurried to say when you couldn’t utter a reply to his request.

As expected, he knew your schedule. The Royal Advisor seemed like a meticulous man who took his duties seriously. At least that was the impression your colleagues had given to you based on the start of the meeting you had missed. Ignis had chivvied the members of the orchestra gently but sternly, and made clear the expectations for the ball.

“No, no. Please, tell me what you would like to hear,” you finally said with a beam, laying your hands back on the keys.

A heartwarming smile spread on Ignis’s face and you found yourself thinking how you would very much like to see him without the visors on.

“What was the piece you played just now? I don’t believe it was on the ball schedule.” Ignis huddled a little closer, so that he could rest his hand on the piano. There was something really intimate about the motion – you sitting there, looking up at him smiling over you.

Gosh, why was he so good-looking? Your hands were shaking a bit. They never shook when you played. You had performed so much in your life that the certain confidence came naturally to you.

“No, it’s not…” You began playing Valse di Fantastica again, but slowly and gently, so you could speak well over the piano tunes. “It’s a piece my grandfather used to play when I was little.”

Ignis leaned closer. You kept your eyes on him, engraving his every feature into your mind and memory, while your hands moved on the keys, coaxing out soft notes. What was this feeling? Your heart was beating uncomfortably loudly and you were a little afraid that Ignis would notice it with his super-human senses.

“Was your grandfather was musician too?” Ignis inquired.

You nodded with a smile and then remembered he couldn’t see it. “Yes he was. I inherited his piano stool – literally. He played in the orchestra before me,” you explained and made a mistake in the melody. With a confused look you turned to stare at the keys as if it had been the instrument’s fault.

“Sorry…” you mumbled and focused better on playing the right notes.

Ignis only smiled encouragingly.

You stayed like that quietly while the Valse di Fantastica came to its end. Your hands had somehow stopped shaking with a few deep breaths and renewed focus.

“That is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for humoring me,” Ignis said in a little husky tone.

“Not at all. It was my pleasure. Will you be listening to our rehearsals tomorrow?” you asked and turned on the seat to face him.

“For some, I hope. I will be there to help you get acquainted with the venue at the start. Even though”–Ignis’s smile turned into a charming smirk–“it seems like you already have that covered.”

You half chuckled and half giggled at his words. Was he flirting with you? You definitely didn’t mind.

“Good thing that you’re here now then – to help me get acquainted with the venue.” Your tone dropped into a playful purr.

“It would be my pleasure to help you in any way I can,” Ignis said and bowed slightly.

“Thank you, Mr. Scientia,” you giggled. It was thrilling to see the contented expression along with an alluring smile spread on Ignis’s face.

“Please, call me Ignis,” he replied.

“Very well… Ignis. I think it’s time for me to return to the hotel.” It was getting late and your curiosity towards the venue and the grand piano was sated so you could sleep in peace without a worry of tomorrow. Even though, a new burning interest was poking at you now: Fixated on the man standing before you.

“Allow me to walk you there.” Ignis said, surprising you with his chivalry. You held back a squeal of delight.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to bother you,” you said, correcting your words into more tactful ones. Honestly, you were worried about how he would get home after escorting you.

“It’s no bother at all. Please. I’d like to hear more about the orchestra from you.”

How could you say no to that smile and soft tone that coddled your hearing to the point of making you simper?

“Very well then…” you acquiesced and rose up.

You took Ignis’s offered arm. As your hand curled around it, you got a good whiff of his cologne. The urge to lean in to take a better sniff of his scent was almost too strong to resist. Propriety please, you reminded yourself and settled for taking a few deep inhales through the nose.

The walk to the hotel was too short in Ignis’s company. The city was brightly lit and bustling despite the late hour, and the advisor seemed to know his way around the streets better than you could do with your sight.

You were actually the one who ended up bumping into other pedestrians, because you couldn’t take your eyes off the man next to you when he spoke. His was gaze directed forward, but he leaned a bit towards you to hear your speech better.

Suddenly Ignis halted and you looked around dumbly to find out you had arrived at the hotel already.

“We are here,” he said and you reluctantly let go of his arm.

“Thank you. I’ll play for you again anytime you wish,” you said, desperately trying to hint that you had enjoyed his company. At least Ignis didn’t seem fazed by your unpleasant first meeting.

“Or… you could do me the favor of accompanying me to the local coffee shop,” he suggested.

“Right now?” You were completely surprised by the offer. A coffee with this gorgeous man to make up for your earlier lack of tact was not a bad deal at all.

“Tomorrow after your rehearses, if you prefer?” Ignis’s voice was so calm and pleasant that you found your lips curving upwards without your say-so.

“Oh, I’d love to.”

“Splendid,” Ignis smiled too and you could’ve sworn your heart skipped a beat and your breathing hitched.

It was time to say farewells, but you were really not ready to let him leave yet now that you had successfully broken the ice and scheduled a date. That must have been a new record for you. All in a day’s work. Insomnia was looking pretty good.

“I, uh, guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” you uttered. Would it be weird to hug him or kiss his cheek? You really wanted to.

“Yes. Until tomorrow then,” Ignis replied with a smile. “Good night.”

“…Good night.”

You had walked through the front door of the hotel when you realized you hadn’t asked how Ignis would get home by alone. When you turned around to see him, he was gone already.

Part Two: The Coffee

Tagging (if you wanna be tagged or not, lmk): @owlwrites @singlebecauseofthechocobros @bleucommelhiver @sevansheart @promptoastandjam @sherniwrites

[some-dr-writings]

Nagito and Reader with the same talent as him get crushes for one another

·       “Uh- Excuse me!” The boy turned around, finding you out of breath. “A-are you Komaeda Nagito? The Super High School Level Lucky student in the upper class?” “Yeah.” A sigh of relief escaped you as you mumbled ‘finally’. Straightening your posture, you introduced yourself. “I’m Y/N, I’m a first year! And I need your help! Do you know how to deal with bad luck?” It was in that moment something zipped past the pair of you. You managed to jump out of the way of the baseball that had crashed through the window and right where you were standing. In your trying to dodge you bumped into a person who fell over, somehow making the floor beneath you collapse, falling into the floor below. Nagito looked over the edge finding only you in the rubble, the floor thankfully being sparse of students. “I’ll fix it…” And that you did, managing to finish but having to skip class to do so and missing your chance to speak with Nagito, much to your disappointment.

·       Every time you managed to find Nagito something would go array and you’d be stuck fixing something. “Oh, there you are Y/N.” “Koma- AAAAHHHHH” Of course Kokichi had to go sprinting past from an infuriated Gundham, knocking over the ladder you were on. As you got up you had to leap out of Sonia’s way, landing yourself into a closet, the door shutting behind you. Nagito raced to the door, twisting the knob to open said door, it popped off, the lock mechanism still inside the door... in the locked position. “Oops.” “… I’ll fix it… again.” After hearing some metallic clicks the door was unlocked and you stepped out, placing away two thin metal rods into the satchel bag you always hand on you. You then went about repairing the doorknob.

·       “Repairing floors, baking, electrical work, signing, installing windows, lock picking, door repair, I can see why others have started calling you the Ultimate Polymath.” You nervously chuckled still going about your work. “Well… I feel bad when others have to deal with the aftermath of my bad luck. The least I can do is try to help out. I’ve just happened to pick up some things on the way.” You sighed, realizing the screw’s fasteners were dull, you had to sift through your bag for your own pack of screws to replace it. “I’ve heard your luck got you into a plane crash once and I’ve seen your bad luck firsthand… How… How do you deal with it? At times, I think I may go mad one of these days.” Nagito noticed your slightly crestfallen expression as you twisted the knob, finding it was fastened properly. “I’ve gotten used to it, but… I don’t know… It can be tiring have to always be on edge so I don’t get runover and make an entire building collapse again. Heh, heh, I’m surprised this place hasn’t been set aflame because of my presents yet.”

·       … Huh. When Nagito first heard another Lucky student was entering the school, he thought you were nothing too special, like himself. Luck is something uncontrollable, it’s just there, a rather strange talent. And yet, you were more than your luck, working against it. A very strong person. He admired that. He had heard from Teru how you accidentally destroyed the kitchen and in the process ruined some of his meals, but you managed to quickly repair it all and how great of a cooking assistant you were. That was but one of many tales he had heard of you. You had the potential to become someone AMAZING, and he wanted to be there to see that happen.

·       And that was how he had taken interest in you. He’d go out of his way to spend time with you. You were a really fun person to be with. You were also empathetic and kind too. You always tried to be positive around others, knowing that could make a person’s day should it be going poorly, something you knew all too personally. You were also strong willed, not putting up with stupid situations, putting your foot down, and taking matters into your own hands. Outside of times like that though, you were rather shy and reserved, fearful your bad luck would rear up its ugly head and cause a catastrophe.

·       Something strange about these catastrophes though, it seemed as if your and Nagito’s luck fed off one another. If you were around one another and your bad luck seemed to combine with his and disastrous results would ensue, but something just as great would happen in return. It was as if you somehow amplified Nagito’s luck. People began to avoid you when you were together, which made cleaning up the aftermath of your bad luck much easier to manage. And though only temporary, you really appreciated it when something good happened, even if the whole time you were suspicious it was going to end badly and Nagito having to reassure you everything would be alright.

·       Over time you quickly grew a crush on him. He was understanding of your situation and was never fearful of being around you unlike everyone else, even your other friends to an extent. Sure he seemed a little off his rocker a times, but it was for rather brief moments, and who wouldn’t get some odd quirks like having an obsession with hope when you’re constantly toyed with by the universe for seemingly no reason.

·       Nagito too had a crush on you, it creeped up on him over time without his notice and he only realized it when he almost so casually said he loved you- abruptly cutting off the sentence instead saying he loved your skin tone… he was a disaster when panicking and immediately regretted speaking in the first place. His crush on you was so obvious it was sad really. So many times he almost confessed, caught himself, and he always ended up making a fool of himself when trying to stop himself from doing so. It got to the point his classmates tried encouraging him, each in their own unique way. The most troublesome was Nekomaru, whom was so loud with his encouragement Nagito feared you’d hear him even at the other side of the school.

·       The worst time however was when he, Chiaki, and Hinata were walking together and the subject of him confessing came up. As they spoke, they heard a strange laughter fill the air. “Nishishi~ Aw, someone as a crush on MY precious classmate, Y/N. And an upperclassman no less. How scandalous!” His wicked grin only grew seeing he had finally drawn a reaction from Nagito one of the few people that seemed to not react to any of Kokichi’s pranks. “Ah! I just got an idea! Let’s tell them right now! They just went inside; it’ll only take a moment!” “No!” “Oh Y/N~ I have something to tell you~” He snickered as Nagito desperately chased him. You both liked one another and just watching you two pine for one another was so boring, Kokichi decided that he might as well as get you together. You deserved each other. Unfortunately, you had been knocked out due to your bad luck… again. This happened quite often unfortunately and only worried your friends and classmates. This didn’t stop Kokichi from having his fun though. He made it a mission to get you and Nagito together, but both of your luck ALWAYS got in the way!

·       You did get together when you FINALLY confessed. You were worried about being together, about how your lucks might hurt one another someday, but if you were together, maybe you could support one another through it all. If he were with you, Nagito believed that just about anything could be possible. Whatever came your way, good or bad, you could handle it together.

[flyswhumpcenter]

It Happened Again [Fever February Day 17 - Hospital Fever]

FEVER FEBRUARY INDEX

Summary: Chiaki receives a call from not one, but three of her friends, and all for the same reason. A reason so strong, she leaves her livestream viewers hanging without a word, and runs for the local supermarket. Because it all happened again.

Fandom: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Non-Desp AU, cameos by characters from DR1 and DRV3) Ship: Hinanami (Hajime/Chiaki)

Word Count: 3K words

Notes: No long time to see in the Hinanami sphere with my usual sickfic business. Can't say this is the best comeback ever, but I hope to do much better next time haha. This was mostly a warm-up. A three-day warm-up, but still, a warm-up.It turns out using my ideas from July 2017 more than half a year after originally having them made this fanfic very stale and with nowhere to fucking go. And I still don't know how to write Chiaki so that's good I guess. Kind of a follow up to a Pixelated Fever oneshot from a while back, "Hajime discovers shiny hunting: the fic". At least, takes place in the same settings and AU conditions.

AO3 version available here.

The hunt was going strong for Chiaki, who was sitting in front of her computer for a surprise livestream. It doesn’t happen often, because she attends college (as she should), and while she couldn’t really launch herself into competitive gaming thanks to it being too fast for her, she still dreamed of making video gaming her source of income in the near future.

Sure, shiny hunting required ungodly patience to most people’s eyes. It was, after all, a long and slow process of trying over and over until you find the perfect gem. Some people said it was useless because it was “just the same but in different colours”: Chiaki loved it because she could do it at her pace. She also happened to think it was a great challenge with a satisfying reward, since she got to keep the fruit of her labour.

So, of course, when her phone rang, she didn’t pick up at first.

The chat got a bit upset over this. It was probably just a friend from college who was calling to get some news of her. At worst, they would leave a voice mail and she would call later. Maybe. She didn’t like phoning people. She preferred talking to them over Discord and Skype. She’d see later, she thought.

“Don’t worry guys… It’s probably just a friend from school…” she told her audience, in an attempt to calm them down.

But the phone kept ringing.

Chiaki wondered if she shouldn’t have muted it, because she didn’t like being disturbed during her livestreams at all! It was meant to be a sweet surprise for her viewers, not some kind of chore to go through because of someone desperate to talk to her when they could wait for later.

Still, she eventually picked her pink cell, if only to look at who’s calling her. The name on the screen couldn’t mistake her: it’s Makoto. It seemed like she had also missed calls from Kazuichi and Kaito. That was weird… Why would the three of them call her at the same time? There must had been a reason for it. She picked up the call.

“Chiaki, finally!” Makoto sighed in relief from the other side of the line, but she could still tell he was very tense. His voice was shaking between every word.

“What’s wrong, Makoto? You sound so stressed…”

“Oh, huh, yeah, that’s why we were trying to call you! It’s about what happened a bit earlier at the shop…”

The supermarket, of course! Makoto, Kazuichi and Kaito all worked there. That made a common point between the three of them. She felt a lump forming in her throat, in anticipation for what was to come.

“Could you come to the supermarket as soon as possible? I’m afraid I won’t be able to explain you everything on the phone, I have stuff to attend to real quick! But please, please come as fast as you can, Chiaki!!”

The urgency in Makoto’s voice made her accept, even if she would had been more reluctant usually. Displaying a cold face, or at least one colder enough to get a mixed reaction from her worried viewers, she waved them goodbye and went offline. Without a word.

Her fingers were shaking. She didn’t have to be told to guess it was about Hajime. Why else would they all call her? It had to be about Hajime. She quickly grabbed her bag, her keys and headed outside as soon as possible, running down the stairs of her building, almost forgetting to lock the door to their flat.

In front of her apartment lot, was a car waiting for her, much to her surprise. In its driver’s seat, Kaito. Chiaki sat the passenger seat quicker than she could have ever expected coming from her, barely looking at him to thank him for the ride, or just to even say hello to him. How unpolite of her, but her anxiety was already growing to high levels.

“You really didn’t take long after Makoto called you, dontcha? It’s weird, cause you’re usually pretty slow!”

The car took off as soon as he stopped speaking, heading straight to the supermarket. And that was where everything fell apart to her eyes.

Chiaki ran straight to Makoto and Kazuichi, who were standing near the glass double-doors of the entrance. They both seemed sad, compared to their usual grins and smiles… This only meant trouble, and what kind of trouble and to what extent, she would soon know. Kaito followed closely behind her, his footsteps loud enough to be heard from far enough in the almost-empty parking.

“Makoto, Kazuichi, I’m here…! Sorry for the missed calls and lateness…!”

She was breathless, but she didn’t mind, as long as she got to know what was wrong and whatever she could do to fix it, as little as the fix would be.

Kazuichi looked at her with an uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. At that point, it seemed like even a kiss from Sonia couldn’t make him look happier.

“So,” he told her in a calm voice, “you came, huh… Guess we don’t have much choice but to explain you what’s just happened, right?”

Makoto seemed very embarrassed upon seeing Kazuichi’s eyes laid upon him.

“Hajime… isn’t really here anymore…” is all the lucky boy added, looking down.

That was even worse! What had even happened in there?!

“What do you mean?” she asked, determined to squeeze an answer out of them.

“Yeah, guys,” Kaito arrived into the conversation, “Hajime was there when I left! Where is he?”

“We had to call an ambulance man!” Kazuichi yelled as his reply. “His fever wouldn’t stop rising, we got scared shitless!!”

Chiaki completely froze.

For once, she had an insistent glaze laid on everybody around her. It wasn’t really them she was blaming: of course they’d call an ambulance if their friend and workmate had a potentially lethal fever. No, it was an anger directed at both her, for not preventing this situation to happen when she could have done so in the morning, and at Hajime for being irresponsible again.

He truly hadn’t changed on that point since Hope’s Peak.

“Oh, right!” Makoto reacted. “You can’t know the full story yet, Chiaki! One of us will have to tell you when driving you to the hospital, since at least two of us need to remain here…”

“I’ll drive her myself,” Kaito said as he patted her shoulder. “You guys take care of the mall while I’m away, okay?”

“Copy that, Roger!”

It was with anxiety and an intense worry burning in her blood that Chiaki followed the astronaut-to-be to his car which he had sloppily parked when bringing her there.

Kaito’s story enabled her to put in pictures what had happened at the supermarket while she was hunting for a Reshiram she’d have to put on the side.

While they were ordering shelves, with desert alleys in dire need of restocking, he heard a weird thumping sound. Thinking it was just some product someone hadn’t put in there properly, Kaito went to check out what had caused the noise, as faint as it was.

He was confronted to his workmate and friend collapsed to the ground, face against the cold floor, having seemingly fallen from his stool as he was restocking soulmate-themed cereal boxes.

Growing instantly worried, he ran to Hajime, who fortunately was still breathing. He wasn’t breathing fine, that was for sure, as it was in ragged breaths, but he was alive. Not alive and well, that was for sure, but he was alive. He also didn’t seem to have hurt anything except for his nose and some quick bruises here and there on exposed parts of his skin.

Turning the older boy on his back revealed two things to Kaito: Hajime was paler than if Celestia Ludenberg and his best friend Shuichi had a corpse baby together, and that his cheeks and bridge of nose were redder than Himiko’s hair. He also happened to have dark rings under his eyes. Well, darker-than-usual rings that was. After all, Hajime always looked tired and done with everything ever.

(Chiaki couldn’t really contradict that. Hajime was, frankly, a bad sleeper who really enjoyed waking up early in the morning.)

Of course, Kaito immediately ran to warn Makoto and Kazuichi, who were in near alleys, about Hajime being half-dead on the cold-ass floor. He didn’t even think about checking the latter’s temperature: his face alone, and the heat beneath his fingers, were enough to give away how high the guy’s fever was.

Of course, Kazuichi immediately panicked. Despite the fact he used to be in Hajime’s class and was probably the one of them three to be the most aware and used to the ex-Ultimate Counsellor’s antics. Instead, it was Makoto who got the idea to bring their workmate to the break room, lay him on the sofa there and call for Chiaki and an ambulance.

(Kaito apologized for not remembering the ambulance call at first. Chiaki excused it as stress taking over his memory. After all, she was dead worried for Hajime too.)

And that was when she finally picked up their calls, or rather, their pleas for desperate help as they really didn’t know how to deal with the situation. Dead in their tracks. He didn’t have any idea: even if he was often sick, he wasn’t that insane.

(Chiaki nodded.)

The trip to the hospital had been deadly quiet on her part. Chiaki still couldn’t utter a single word, actually: she was worried beyond her mind, and words just wouldn’t exit her mind. Instead, it was a bit of a turmoil inside of her. The question was: how hadn’t she noticed something would go wrong?  

Recalling her day as best as she could, she remembered he had woken up far before she did, leaving the flat before she could be out of bed. She swore she had heard some suspicious sounds here and there, probably tumbling. It was easy to brush it off as Hajime not being very awaken yet. But she should have known better.

She should have known he was an earlier bird than that.

Before she knew it, Chiaki was getting leaded into some corridors and into a hospital room. She knew it wouldn’t be as happy as the time they had all gone to check on Kazuichi who had broken his leg trying to please Sonia again (it had worked, somewhat, at least she had recognized the kind gesture). It would also not be as dark as Kaede telling them about that time Shuichi had almost strangled her in a delirium.

At least, she was certain Hajime didn’t have pneumonia. That was a plus, right? Else, she would have heard it, if Kaede’s descriptions were anything to go by.

In the room, she was left alone to face an occupied bed, door closing softly behind her. “I’ll let you two have some privacy” was the worst sentence ever when she barely knew what was wrong. Timidly, the gamer made her way to the bed, weary eyes fixated on the patient. She wasn’t scared of him: she was scared of what he had, and what he had done. There was always something terrifying, or at least intimidating about what he was capable of doing for the sake of something mundane.

Chiaki grabbed a nearby chair calmly, silently, and put it next to his bed. She sat just as noisily on it, sighing, afraid of studying his current condition from the outside, yet feeling the duty to do so. After all, she was his best friend and girlfriend. One of the things she owed him was to take care of him.

Kaito was right: Hajime looked tired all the time. However, it didn’t mean it couldn’t get worse: the Hajime before her eyes right at this moment was exhausted, if not worse. His dark rings had taken the shape of a dark purple canyon. It would have scared those who didn’t know him in his worst times: having see him overworked before, it didn’t scare her as much as it should have. It still made her worry, just as much even, but it wasn’t scary anymore.

The dark rings were alone on this face, though. While Hajime wasn’t as pale as a “corpse baby”, his skin had still lost a couple tones of colours, making him shades whiter than he usually was. That would be to ignore the important redness on his face: his cheeks were, indeed, tainted in a sickly shade of red.

His ragged breathing was one more indication of how unwell he actually was. How on Earth had he even been able to go to work in this condition? Sweat was rolling down his face, accompanying a pain look even in slumber and the other sickness symptoms he was showing. She could only wait for him to wake up to discuss everything she wanted to discuss.

Chiaki had dozed off without realizing it. She only realized it when she felt a hand shaking her shoulder gently, almost weakly, and stirred her eyes open. She woke up a bit quicker than usual, much to her surprise, before realizing she had napped in a room she wasn’t familiar with. Moments after that, she remembered where she was and why so: she was at the hospital, because Hajime had collapsed at work. Well, the collapse part was a hypothesis, but it had to be that, right?

The hand, in fact, belonged to him. He was half-sitting half-lying, a small smile on his face, and that despite his half-closed eyes and shabby breathing. He looked so weak… It was always weird to see him so vulnerable, far from his usual physical strength and both comforting and almost intimidating aura.

“Good morning, Chiaki…”

His smallest smile was driven with kindness even if it was, like everything about him right at this moment, weak.

“You shouldn’t be the one waking me up, Hajime…”

He snickers lightly.

“Why so…? You were asleep, weren’t ya…?”

“Because I’m not the sick one here!”

Hajime got taken aback, well, as aback as he could get when it seemed like his body had given up on him for the most part. Only then, did he weakly smile again, scoffing to himself.

“Heh, you’re right… I actually don’t recognize that place… We’re not in the staff room, right…?”

“Indeed, we’re at the hospital…”

Chiaki couldn’t bring herself not to be angry at him. She was, usually, never angry, except when stuff like that happened. According to her friends, it was anger born from worry, and she couldn’t see any other explanation to her uncharacteristic anger otherwise.

“I pissed you off, didn’t I…? Should have expected it as soon as I left…”

“Why are you doing this?”

He goes completely silent.

“I already explained to you countless times you shouldn’t be doing this for whatever reason you come up with… And so did everybody else… So, why are you doing this?”

The (cold) sweat running down his face was telling her he didn’t know himself. He never knew, in fact. He just kept doing because he considered it was his duty, or his obligations, and that you shouldn’t not accomplish your duty and said obligations.

Instead, his eyes looked at the IV in his wrist.

“Dunno… But I know I always tell you that I dunno… People keep telling me I can’t stop, they’re probably right… Haha…”

“I think that… If I hadn’t woken up so late, I may had been able to stop you…”

“What do you mean…?”

“You’ve been exhausted for a few days, yet I simply didn’t do anything against it…”

Hajime looked perplexed by her words. Who wouldn’t be? She wasn’t like that, usually, but she thought it was one of these times where she could express these kinds of feelings openly without them feeling too much out of place. It had happened before, in high school and afterwards.

“You’ll never stop if we don’t prevent you from throwing yourself in a fire… But I feel like I’ve already told you so. Multiple times, even, I think. I don’t feel like words serve a use anymore…”

“Guess I really am a stubborn guy, huh… Sorry for all the worries and fuss I caused, I’m sure the guys are gonna scream at me again later…”

“Why did you come to work sick, exactly?”

“Well… Today was supposed to be a busy day, at least this afternoon, so we were asked to come here to restock… And you know we need the money to buy you a new setup for your streams…”

Shot through the heart.

“Oh, Hajime… Don’t tell me you went to work sick because I want to replace my microphone and camera…”

He smiled.

“What if I did…? We need all the extra money we can get, especially since we’re still both in college and whatnot…”

“Yes, but not at the cost of your health!”

“Yeah, you’re right… Health’s expensive too…”

His deadpanned look and his illogical statements just screamed to her his brain was severely fevered.

“This isn’t what I meant… You need to take better care of yourself, Hajime. I know you’ve made some efforts for it in the past, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a long way to go… You should know by now overworking doesn’t bring you anything but pain and fevers…”

“But…”

“Don’t use the money argument, please… Not again… Life doesn’t work that way, Hajime…”

His smile faded.

“Yeah, I know that… You may be right when you say I need someone to stop me from doing stupid shit…”

Chiaki put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“So, let yourself some rest and care, okay? We’re all going to make sure you get the self-care you need…”

He laid back in bed.

“Yeah, let’s do that once I’ve actually slept…”

[clueless909]

odd numbers for the dr ask game :)

hhhh oh no help okay ily froot

SPOILERS FOR DANGANRONPA IN GENERAL LOL

1. Favorite Game

Super Danganronpa 2, no question... I would die for that game. Best characters and best story, no question. AND THE PLOT TWISTS??? amazin

3. Favorite Antagonistic Character

I’m not exactly, 100% sure what this means. Mastermind characters (Izuru, Junko, Mukuro, etc) or the Foils (Togami, Komaeda, and Kokichi)? In any case, I love Junko the most out of any mastermind character ever (Tsumugi is... Probably my least favorite sorry to her fans) and Komaeda will probably always be one of the best written characters in the Danganronpa franchise who offered so much more to the obnoxious foil along with the BEST trial of Danganronpa: (2-5).

5. Best Girl?

Unfair question, okay? I love (almost) all the girls! My favorite of all time is Ruruka Andou, though followed closely by Sonia Nevermind, Mikan Tsumiki, and Ryoko Otonashi

7. Favorite Class Trial from All of the Games?

2-5. That trial is SUCH a journey and I loved every second of it. Except for the fact that it just gives people a reason to cry that Chiaki was too pure and didn’t deserve to die.

9. Least Favorite Class Trial?

Hmm... I’m gonna say 3-3. If ONLY for the fact that there was such a missed opportunity with two killers in one trial and that Kiyo could have had to stay with the rest of the students freely despite committing murder! Otherwise, it was just kind of weird and the motive was absolutely bizarre.

11. Favorite Cast?

DR2 has my favorites but also my least favorites. I love Sonia, Mikan, Peko, Mahiru, Gundham, Twogami, Fuyuhiko, Komaeda... But I hate Chiaki, Hiyoko, and Teruteru. Overall though, has my favorite characters of any of the games (or other media)

13. What’s your opinion on the Danganronpa 3 anime?

Oooh boy. Okay so Despair Side was a literal, actual train wreck. From advertising the “prequel” of DR2 and then having the anime be fanservicey, random nonsense which retconned both how the class became despairs and that Chiaki was a person before being an AI to having many episodes which were not even focused on the DR2 cast but instead perfect human Chiaki and how sad it was that she got killed :((( Also Twilight Case got just... Ruined because they made Sato be the “true villain” while Natsumi isn’t to blame at all which wasn’t the case in 2-2 and made the whole thing just... Stupid. It also made Chisa, someone with a lot of potential, a Mary-Sue teacher who was obnoxious to watch and everyone loved her for no reason (just like Chiaki).

Future Side was stupid but much more enjoyable in my opinion because at least the characters acted like themselves. The only thing I consider canon about this entire anime series (including Despair side) is the new characters introduced. I love you Ruruka.

15. Your absolute OTP?

I would be dead without Sondam. Ruruka/Izayoi is also great though

17.  Do you have an OT3? Which one?

Not really, but if I did, it would probably be Fujisaki x Oowada x Ishimaru because I like both Fujisaki x Oowada and Oowada x Ishimaru though Fujisaki x Ishimaru isn’t really... anything to me...

19. Who do you think is an underrated character?

DEFINITELY Ruruka. All I hear about her is that she’s a bitch and the worst. I really disagree and think people give her way too much crap because they think Seiko is just a precious girl who did nothing wrong (though I do like Seiko, don’t get me wrong).

21. Favorite voice actor?

Oh my gosh, no question, honestly! Natalie Hoover, English voice of Sonia. She is the SWEETEST person! My old friend (hate them now lol) got her to sing me happy birthday in Sonia’s voice for my birthday! I couldn’t believe it but she was just amazing.

23. Favorite Mascot?

Haha, that’s such an unfair question! Monokuma, no question. He’s just the best and he’s a staple of Danganronpa. The others don’t have a chance besides maybe Monomi!

25. Least Favorite Mascot?

All the Monokubs. Period. I hated every scene with them and just wanted them to shut up. Sorry but I just couldn’t stand them! Monodam and Monotaro were the least hateable though but they were all kind of a package deal.

27. Least Favorite Execution?

Mikan’s. Forgettable, stupid, and she wasn’t even herself when she died.

29. Which character should have survived in your opinion?

Ruruka because she just lost everything and had so much room to grow and become more self-reliant and atone for her mistakes. Also because it made the whole Class 76 arc kind of pointless? They did the same thing with Ishimaru and I believe he should have survived as well.

31. Is there a character you think who shouldn’t have survived but did?

That’s... Kind of an awful question LOL but I don’t think any V3 characters should have survived because it honestly skewed the message. I’m happy that Maki is alive, of course, but everything in the last trial was kind of just ignored.

33. Character with the best clothing?

Hmm... Probably Chiaki, honestly. The backpack and the hoodie are super cute. She has one of the best designs in the game but she just doesn’t have enough depth for me to enjoy her character.

35. A character who should’ve got more character development?

Just one? Let me list out a few LOL. Mikan, Sonia, Mahiru, Saionji, Kaede, Tenko, Miu, Kirumi, Hoshi. Characters who needed to get character development at all: Chiaki, Chisa.

37. Favorite Minor Character?

Would Ryoko count? Ryoko. If not, I rather like Taehime Uozumi and she’s pretty minor LOL

39. Smartest Murder Plan?

Mikan’s original Ibuki murder. Unfortunate that Saionji happened to walk in.

41. Person you’ve never expected to become a culprit but they became? (Doesn’t include Chiaki)

To be honest, I didn’t think Celes would become a blackened because she was just so... Obvious? Like, when you talk to Celes, she just kind of has a typical murderess look to her AND she was the one who designed a bunch of safety rules. 

43. Describe Monaca Towa in 3 words!

Dorky manipulative follower

45. Unpopular Opinion?

Chiaki is an underdeveloped character and was literally made in the image of Kodaka’s perfect woman so that fanboys could have a perfect waifu to jerk off to.

47. A headcanon you have about a character?

Mikan and the Imposter are really really good friends and Mikan learns to hang out with nicer people and forgive herself and get better.

49. Favorite Mini-Game?

Panic-Talk Action! Good stuff

51. Character you thought you were gonna dislike but loved in the end?

Sonia Nevermind. Her introduction is tasteless and gross (because of Teruteru) so when I met her, I thought she was just going to be an idiot who got into situations that made me cringe. I really didn’t even like her until around Chapter 3-4.

53. Favorite Game End?

Danganronpa 1 because of how much mystery there was surrounding the outside world and whether anything Junko said was true and I didn’t know how they were going to survive out there or what they’d do! 

55. Favorite love hotel scene?

Kirumi’s gave her more depth and Kaito’s was just so Kaito that I enjoyed it a lot. So they’re tied imo.

57. Character who should’ve lived longer?

Kaede. No question. She had so much potential and she seemed like such a strong interesting person with so much chemistry with the other characters. Also I like Komaru but I was hoping this female protagonist would have much less fanservice...

59. Favorite moment?

The end of trial 2-2. Peko and Fuyuhiko finally being able to come to an understanding of what they thing of each other and Fuyuhiko finally being able to get through to Peko that he loves her as a person, not as his “servant” was actually heart-breaking and hands-down my favorite moment of the series.

“I never wanted a tool! I just wanted you! Only you!”

61. Character who looks like the love child of ???

Uh... I’ll just go with the thoughts I had when everyone thought the v3 crew were the kids of the other survivors. 

Shuichi - Makoto and Kyoko, Kirumi - Peko and Fuyuhiko, Kaede - Sonia and Gundham, Gonta - Nekomaru and Akane, Angie - Aoi and Hagakure (?), Kaito - Mikan and Twogami, Iruma - Togami and Fukawa

63. Describe Kyoko Kirigiri in 3 words!

Intelligent soft-spoken detective

65. Who did you never expect to die but they died?

Saionji. I didn’t like her so I thought she would live forever. Chiaki as well because she’s the sweet angel but I was happy they had the guts to kill her off.

67. Which character would you never want to meet in real life?

Just one??? Junko for OBVIOUS REASONS such as I don’t want her to exist in real life at all.

69. Choose one character which you would take with you on a trip.

It’s between Sonia and Mikan... Sonia deserves to see all around the world in an environment that isn’t constrained so she can enjoy it. And Mikan deserves to go on a trip with friends and be happy :)

71. Character you can relate to?

Ruruka, which is probably why I like her so much. Ruruka has a lot of paranoia and is pretty distant from people but craves love and attention which sounds a lot like me. She also shares my birthday! November 20th!

73. Character who deserved better?

Mikan. Horrible, awful backstory and desperation to not be neglected is heartbreaking enough but then people go and see 2-3 and think she’s a lunatic when ANY CHARACTER would have acted the exact same way. They just didn’t see them do it so Mikan’s the crazy one.

75. Describe Gonta Gokuhara in 3 words!

Pure but easily-manipulated

77. What do you think of the fandom?

There’s three sides I see: Really sweet and kind who have discussions but not arguments about characters and plot points, people who would defend their favorite character and opinions violently even when the other person is being civilized and not trying to start anything, and the ones who just want fanservice of the sexy big-boobed women. And I only like the foremost option.

79. Which character has the cutest design?

Chiaki. The best design in all of Danganronpa imo. The second would probably be Chihiro.

81. Could you be the Ultimate Lucky Student?

I’m pretty lucky but honestly? My boyfriend blows me out of the park in terms of luck so I’d say probably not. He could be though.

83. Least Favorite Chapter?

EVERY SINGLE 3RD CHAPTER. Killed off Celes in 1-3, my favorite character in DR1. Killed off Mikan in 2-3, one of my favorites of all time. Killed off Tenko in 3-3, my favorite girl (along with Maki and Kaede) in V3. They’re also very poorly written. Celes’s acting is atrocious, Fuyuhiko’s death was replaced with Saionji so her murder weapon wasn’t even talked about in the trial, and Kiyo so obviously killed Tenko it wasn’t even funny.

85. Could you be a Dangan Protag? Why?

I mean... I think anyone could be. Kodaka even says he tries to write the protag as though they could be anyone else (though I think he does a bad job there). I think I would be super scared and paranoid so I don’t know how great of one I would be but... Yeah.

87. Describe Peko Pekoyama in 3 words!

Lovestruck loyal awesome

89. Least favorite Danganronpa 3 character?

Chisa. I despise Chisa so much I couldn’t even tell you. She has a great design but she’s basically an older Chiaki without the video games. Perfect motherly woman with the biggest boobs and skinniest waist who excels at all she does and gets tortured through no fault of her own because she was just trying to save others aw :( Characteristics? Loves Munakata and is a motherly figure who everyone loves and can do no wrong unless she’s brainwashed to.

91. What do you think of Monokuma?

A fantastic mascot and really funny character himself! Cold-blooded but also hilarious. 

93. Did you like the Monokubs?

No. Next question.

95. What do you think of Gundham Tanaka?

He was a great character! He was funny and charming and didn’t get super repetitive. I also think his past and the reasons for why he acts the way he does is spectacular but then again EVERY backstory in DR2 is fantastic.

97. Overrated ship which is your NOTP?

Chiaki x anyone (mainly Hajime or Mikan). I just... Don’t like Chiaki and seeing her with characters I consider actually good is... Bleh to me.

99. Your absolute NOTP?

Ruruka x Seiko. I hate that ship so much.

Mikan x Saionji. Don’t ship people with their abusers please...

Celes x Hifumi. She lied about being raped to get him to kill someone. Let’s not like this ship.

Mahiru x Saionji. Because I’m tired of Mahiru HAVING to be around Saionji and not being allowed to be her own character.

Mikan x Ibuki. Sexualizing Mikan? That’s ship material!