A/N: It has been a while since I've published anything on this website, and for that, I deeply apologize. I have no excuses but my own laziness as well as starting up a new college semester.

That being said, welcome to my newest project: Living Space. I couldn't think of a much better name that wasn't overly wordy, so that'll do for now. This will be a collection of funny and odd scenarios I devise to insert Danganronpa characters into. Most chapters will be humorous one-offs that focus on a few characters and run short (expect between 1k-2k words), but there will also be an over-arching, more serious plot happening in the background that will come in the form chapters such as this first one. Think of them as Gaiden chapters that detail a story arc, intermingled with more humorous drabbles. I didn't want to start off with a humorous chapter, and I could never stop writing seriously for the life of me (send help), so this is what came out first.

Of course, due to the nature of this project, I cannot promise or put a deadline on regular updates; they will come as I think up ideas that I want to implement as well as find the motivation to type them out. That being said, I hope you all enjoy what I do type out!

If any of you are wondering what's the issue with my other story, "Swan Song", please refer to the Author's Note at the bottom; otherwise, enjoy the story, and as always, all criticisms welcome!

8:00 AM

Hajime's brow furrowed and his gaze sharpened. He'd been staring down his alarm clock for an hour now. Not like he needed an alarm anyway; He always woke up this early.

Maybe I should just hand it over to Kazuichi. He's been asking for a while…

He lazily plucked himself off the mattress and sat on the edge of the bed, disregarding the sheets that tumbled onto the floor in one big white mass. A small yawn escaped his throat, and for a second, he contemplated going back to bed. Just as quickly though, he discarded that thought and put on some simple clothes to make himself presentable.

It was commonly accepted, and with rare refutation, that no matter how many hours of sleep a human being got, they would still be exhausted in the morning. Many would carelessly slip back into their dreams if only for five more minutes, but the rest would find the strength to hop off their bed and greet the new day. For those people, their motivation could more often than not be attributed to responsibility; whether to get to work on time or to catch the bus or some other essential task for a modern life. However, even less than that subset of the population were people like Hajime: those who woke up in the early hours of the morning for no other reason than simply to wake up.

He had accepted this a long time ago, and his circadian clock had adjusted surprisingly well. He had often been asked how he could handle waking up early every single day.

The answer was coffee, and that was precisely what he was on his way for. Even an early riser like him couldn't function without his coffee in the morning.

As he navigated his way to the kitchen, he happened upon their two residential health "enthusiasts" (Ibuki had used the term "psycho" in the past, but that was an entirely different story).

Akane and Nekomaru, huh? Now that I think about it, those two never miss a day…

The three greeted each other in short passing before continuing on their separate ways. They all had their own agendas for the morning, so it made no sense to waste each other's time. Besides, Hajime wasn't nearly dumb enough to try and take time away from Nekomaru's training schedule. No, he would leave that job to someone less fortunate.

He stepped into the kitchen, grabbed a mug from the cabinet, and turned on the odd coffeemaker they had. A long time ago, Kazuichi had decided that a regular coffeemaker wouldn't cut it for Ultimates such as themselves, so he went and fashioned an entirely new machine on his own. Hajime knew that this was just an excuse to tinker around (the damn bastard didn't even drink coffee), but he had no real basis for objection, so he remained silent. In hindsight, he had made the right choice; even if the mechanic hadn't the first clue how to brew a cup of coffee himself, the machine sure as hell did, and he'd be damned if it wasn't the best coffee he'd ever tasted.

One of the great privileges of waking up early and being the first one in the kitchen was that he didn't have to clean up after anyone else. He knew the others well enough to know that more than a handful of them wouldn't pick up after themselves, but since he was always the first one there, he didn't have to deal with all the strewn kitchenware and spillage. Even when they did try to take responsibility, things would end up broken or misplaced. Thinking about those times caused him to crack a smile at a relevant memory of Hiyoko and the time that she grabbed Sonia's-

"Good morning!"

Hajime nearly dropped his mug to the ground, barely managing to slip a pinky through the handle in his panic. The porcelain teetered back and forth on his digit as he stared at it incredulously before deciding he should rescue it. Securing his grip on the mug, he placed it securely on the countertop before turning to the person who had entered the kitchen.

"You nearly made me drop my mug, Nagito."

The white-haired boy merely cracked a smile and made his way to the opposite side of the counter. "Well, I'm glad that nothing broke." He propped an arm up on the counter. "How's your morning been, Hajime?'

"It was going great," he lazily replied as he pressed the button to start the brewing cycle.

"Aw, you should be more optimistic in the morning! You can't go into the day with that kind of attitude. I feel like today is going to be a beautiful day full of hope!"

Isn't that every day for you, you hope-philiac?

"Why are you up so early anyway? What do you want?" Hajime asked irritably as he placed his hands down on the counter opposite of Nagito. For a few seconds, the two boys just stared into each other's eyes with only the sound of the coffeemaker in the background. Hajime shifted uneasily waiting for a response. "You didn't come down here just to say hi, right?"

"Actually, I did. I like you, Hajime. Really…like you."

Hajime nearly choked on his saliva. He really should have expected him to say something like that.

"You're so different than everyone else here, you know? Just because you don't have a talent doesn't mean you're worthless."

Thanks Nagito.

"You could be even more talented than any of us! I mean, my talent is nothing special; I didn't work to achieve it like everyone else did theirs. It doesn't symbolize true hope."

Hajime froze for a second while he thought about how to reply to this. "I…don't have a talent though. I already accepted that a long time ago, Nagito, and you know that. You don't need to pity me."

Nagito let out a small chuckle, as if he had expected that reply. "Don't you think it's more admirable for an ordinary person to do extraordinary things than it is for an extraordinary person to do extraordinary things?" Hajime thought it was a rhetorical question until he caught Nagito looking at him expectantly. Was he actually looking for an answer to that question? Going off past experiences, Hajime knew that Nagito had already decided what he would say next regardless of how he answered. As he opened his mouth to reply, the room suddenly went silent.

The coffeemaker's whirring was now absent from the room's ambience.

"Looks like your coffee's done. Enjoy, and try not to think too much about it, Hajime," Nagito warmly replied, and Hajime shivered. He watched the boy's jacket disappear around the corner along with the sound of his fading footsteps. Suddenly, a feeling of rage welled inside Hajime's core and made its way to his mind. The fucker had just been toying with him, hadn't he?

Damn it, he was supposed to be the only one in the kitchen at this time of day! This small portion of the day was supposed to be his only time away from all the chaos and hijinks of his Ultimate housemates – and now it was ruined. The encounter had left him with a sour taste in his mouth (although that happened every time he talked to Nagito), and he eyed the coffee machine warily. His coffee suddenly seemed less appetizing, but he hated to just pour it down the drain – if he ended up wasting some perfectly good coffee, he would really get it from Teruteru anyway. He poured it into his mug while contemplating what Nagito had told him. Maybe he should have been more persistent in questioning what he was trying to get at, or maybe he should just ask him later in the day. He knew Nagito well enough to know that he didn't really know him; he was unpredictable, and that was the scariest part. Hajime wondered what Nagito wanted to do about his "issue".

"Issue"; as if it was some kind of defect in Hajime's person. A mistake. His throat tightened just from picturing that word.

Everyone knew about Hajime's lack of talent; it was a taboo topic in the house, but one so obvious it couldn't be denied. The topic would occasionally come up behind closed doors, but would end just as quickly as it started. Hajime knew these discussions took place, and while he himself was unperturbed by them, it didn't make anyone else any more comfortable in bringing it up. The only exception to this was, of course, Nagito; he was the one person who had no qualms in talking about it. That, Hajime supposed, was one of the boy's better qualities: he was willing to address topics some would be wary to touch upon…for better or for worse.

He really needed to get Nagito out of his head.

After downing the rest of the coffee and cleaning up after himself, he returned to his room to get properly dressed. It wouldn't be long before the others woke up and started causing madness as usual.

Hajime sighed.

Maybe Nagito had been onto something.

A/N: Wow, I'd been meaning to type this out for a while, but laziness is one hell of a monster. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review! Now, onto the "Swan Song" announcement...

I will confirm one thing: I have not abandoned the story. I fully intend to see it through one of these days, but writer's block is desperately attacking me right now. I have the outline on how I would like it to end thought out and drafted in my mind; however, putting it into words is a much harder task. I want it to be of high quality (which admittedly I have been neglecting), and until I feel satisfied with what I write, I refuse to publish it. Swan Song Chapter 3 will come, but when, I cannot say. I hope those of you that enjoyed reading it (all three of you) will understand and patiently wait for when I am able to produce it.