This story was written for Please Insert Coin: A Nanami Chiaki fanzine.
Half-Eaten
Three gentle knocks are what Nanami gives Hinata's door. She waits as he says he'll be there shortly, so she grips her backpack straps and stands straight. She tilts her head, listening to the sound of Hinata's tepid footsteps trek along the wooden floor of his cabin.
The door creaks open, and Hinata peers at her, a yawn escaping his lips. He quickly covers his mouth, clears his throat, and he greets her in a way anyone else would deem ungraceful as a second yawn slips into his words.
"Hello, Hinata-kun," she says, smiling. "Can I come in?"
Hinata glances around, the creeping night sky looming behind Nanami. For a moment, he thinks something is wrong, but he shakes off his concern and allows her inside. He steps to his left, watching Nanami enter and look around his cabin.
Nanami catches sight of dirty laundry hanging lopsided in a plastic bin. She recalls Souda having the same problem. Her conversation about boys never doing their laundry from Koizumi rings true in her ears even if that conversation had been heavily one-sided.
Other than the laundry, his room is pleasant and orderly with the same set pieces as the other cottages. The flowers sitting on his desk have hints of water dripping off their petals, and she spots a half-full glass cup resting by the pot. The only uncertainty she has about his room is the collection of Hidden Monokumas resting where his bookshelf should have been.
"So, what are you doing here? It's kind of late," Hinata asks, and Nanami sits on his couch, the material soft against her legs.
Setting her backpack on his table, Nanami unzips it and says, "Here. I brought you a gift, Hinata-kun."
He sits by her, his eyes wide and uncertain. Nanami casts him a glance, her posture confident and calm as she pulls out a plastic bag adorned with a pleasingly pink bow. As Hinata utters a quiet gasp, Nanami grins and plucks off the bow, presenting him with kusamochi packed with sweet red bean paste.
"I thought we could share it," she explains, and Hinata eagerly accepts the gift, weighing the mochi in his palms.
She watches him glow as if stars shot across his eyes. She can't help but beam when he thanks her, opening the bag and removing one piece of mochi. When he offers the treat to her, she accepts a larger, saccharine slab.
Hinata opens his mouth and hums, ready to bite down only to hesitate when something catches his eye. Pulling the piece away from his lips, Hinata squints and slowly turns it around. He watches Nanami chomp down on half of her mochi and push the sweet glob against the inside of her right cheek. Pursing his lips, Hinata points at his mochi.
"Hey, um, there's teeth marks on this mochi," he says, and Nanami blinks, roughly swallowing her unevenly chewed blob, and it writhes against her throat.
She hits her chest, forcing the mochi down as surprise pinches her. Nanami peers at Hinata's mochi, discovering a bite mark in the right corner of his piece, ones that looked eerily similar to her own teeth. Hinata looks at her piece and then glances back at his own.
"Did you, uh, eat this piece and stick it back in the bag?" he asks, his complexion paler.
Warm scarlet scorches her cheeks as her plan crumbles. She had seen him forlorn after the class trial and decided it would be proper to buy a treat for him. The aggravating minutes Nanami spent at the MonoMono Machine trying to win kusamochi, as Monokuma promised he put some in there, proved fruitless when Monomi gently informed her that he lied. When she raced to the grocery store before it closed, she managed to buy the very last bag of kusamochi. She thought Hinata's favorite food would cheer him up after such a sobering trial with Koizumi's death, Pekoyama's execution, and Kuzuryuu's injuries.
With the dreadful experience of the class trial and her time-consuming search for Hinata's favorite treat, Nanami grew peckish. Hunger gnawed at her stomach, and her body demanded any kind of sustenance. Sleep simply was not cutting it even when she tried to nap standing upright at the MonoMono Machine.
When she had the mochi, she thought one missing piece wouldn't hurt Hinata. One tiny bite, she had promised herself, and that would be it. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to separate her piece and mistakenly dropped it back in the bag.
Now, here she is watching Hinata hold up her half-eaten mochi. Nanami rubs her forearm, embarrassment thick in hot flames of red on her cheeks. She shifts her gaze at the rest of the mochi, attempting to muster an apology when Hinata snickers.
"You really just left it in here? You didn't even finish it?" Teasing tickles his tongue, and Nanami frowns, her brow furrowing.
"It took me a really long time to get it. I was hungry," she insists, puffing her cheeks out, and Hinata chuckles, offering Nanami her piece.
"I think you should finish it," he replies, and he places the mochi into her open palm.
Nanami wastes no time tossing the sugary treat into her mouth. She wonders if Hinata is almost impressed by how quickly she chews and swallows, the cloying taste coating her tongue. Finishing off her second piece, Nanami returns his grin.
Her embarrassment wears thin as they share the mochi. She observes his expression turn brighter with every piece, the satisfaction swelling up within her knowing she had made one of her friends happy. Even a moment of a peace is a powerful tool against Monokuma's despair, but for her, spending time with her friend is much more important.
"These are delicious," Hinata says, a spittle of red bean paste slipping over his lip. Quickly licking it, Hinata smiles at her.
"I'm glad you liked them," Nanami replies, her bliss infectious to anyone who would come near them.
Hinata cocks his head, hunching towards her. "But why'd you bring me them?"
Nanami hums, acting like she is mulling over his question, but she already has the answer in mind. She looks at him, her fingers reaching for his shoulder, and she grasps him, applying light pressure.
"Because it's something I knew you would like, Hinata-kun. If my friend is sad, then I wouldn't want to leave them that way." She pauses. "I think."
Her answer leaves him chuckling. Sincerity and light confusion mingled in her tone, and he couldn't help but return her kindness with a snicker. Hinata thanks her, his sadness smothered with kusamochi.
Nanami smiles, releasing Hinata's shoulder and setting her hand back into her lap. Spotting the last piece of mochi, she reaches for it and quickly plops it into her mouth. Hearing Hinata comment that she looked like a tiny rodent, she scowls at him, a rare anger flashing in her eyes.
"Uh, you know, not like a rat or anything, but you're like a…" Hinata trails off, scratching the back of his head as he loses his train of thought. Whistling becomes his excuse to bide for time.
Nanami relaxes, replying, "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it out of malice." She pauses once more, narrowing her gaze as her tone turns slightly harsh. "I think."
Hinata waves his hand in front of his nose as if he were brushing away an irritating insect. "H-hey, don't add that 'I think' after you already forgave me."
Giggling, Nanami says, "Just kidding."
Hinata utters a short peel of rather shrill laughter. "Y-yeah! Of course. Same here."
Nanami grins, knowing she has definitely leveled up her friendship with Hinata. Even though she is still learning about humans and their variety of feelings and cultures, she feels like a real person. As a hope shard for Hinata appears in her e-Handbook, Nanami knows she is much closer to Hinata than before.