Author's Note: This will be an episodic series of short stories following the lives of the 77th class once they've returned to Jabberwock Island, because I need this. There will be funnies, there will be feels, and Komaeda and Hinata are getting together, dammit. So, please-join me and these crazy people for some adventures.
SIDE:CONTINUE
We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay
"Hey… Can you hear me?"
He could hear… something.
A roar, dull and rhythmic, in the distance. Rising and falling and rising again… like a passive heartbeat. What was that sound? It reminded him of the ocean, but it had been years since he'd woken up to the sound of the ocean.
...Woken up?
When, exactly, had he fallen asleep?
"Hey… Can you hear me?"
Ryota Mitarai blinked open his gummy eyes, blearily taking in his surroundings. Soft light filled the room, casting a dim glow on the dusty rug, the half-filled bookshelf, and the cracked glass bathroom door. His body felt heavy and his throat was on fire. He squeezed his eyes shut, coughing weakly.
"Ah, I'm sorry… The level of dust in here is honestly unacceptable, but there's barely been any time to clean. If I were more competent, I might've been able to get it done despite the circumstances, but as it is, all I was able to do was shake out the bedsheets..."
The voice sounded so guilty, Ryota forced himself to speak up mid-cough just to reassure it. "It's… fine…"
When he opened his eyes again, he sought out the source of the voice. It was the white-haired boy, perched on the edge of the bed. Ryota flinched when those grey eyes met his—somehow they were harder to look into than the light.
Nagito Komaeda.
The sight of him scraped at the doors of Ryota's memory, touching a sensitive place deep inside of him. A nerve wrung so raw it had consumed his entire existence. It squeezed his chest, shortening his breath, making it hard to think straight.
"How… How did I get… here?" Rising panic strained his voice. "Wh-Where are we?"
"Jabberwock Island. We arrived yesterday morning, but you were pretty out of it, so Tsumiki prescribed immediate rest. That's why I didn't have time to clean, you see."
"Y-Yesterday morning…? How long have I been sleeping?"
"Mm… almost eighteen hours, I think."
"That long—?" Ryota bolted upright, sending his head swimming. The world tilted, and Komaeda lurched forward to steady him. His grip on Ryota's shoulders felt uneven.
"Hey, it's alright! You haven't missed anything; it was more important that you catch up on sleep. Your friend was just worried because you hadn't gotten to eat, so Hinata sent me to wake you for dinner."
Ryota furrowed his brow. "Hinata…?" The name sounded familiar, but…
"Ah, excuse me. Izuru Kamukura."
...Right. That was right. The Remnants of—no, his former classmates had reintroduced him to Hajime Hinata, the former identity of Izuru Kamukura. "Oh… And… my friend?"
"The Imposter. I just assumed you two were close because of the time you spent together. I apologize if I jumped to conclusions." Komaeda laughed, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. It was black and glossy—mechanical. "But Hinata was quite annoyed when he spoke to me, so I can only imagine how much the Imposter pestered him…"
Pulling his knees up to his chest, Ryota stared at that hand, unable to tear his eyes from it. The Komaeda of his past had two human hands, so he had to have lost the left one sometime after falling into despair. "I'm sorry. I've caused so many problems…"
Problems didn't even begin to cover it. Because of him, the world was in shambles. Even in the end, there was nothing he could do. In the end, the 77th class was forced to bear the weight of his weakness. They bore it with bloodstains in their minds, scars on their bodies, missing limbs…
"Hey."
The mechanical hand extended out toward him, along with Komaeda's kind smile.
"Come on. You wouldn't want to miss out on one of Hanamura's meals. He is the Ultimate Chef, after all."
Ryota took his hand, aware that his own was trembling, and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. His shirt and pants were beyond wrinkled, but he doubted anyone would notice. It wasn't like he had anything else to change into. Komaeda took him outside—outside, he hadn't realized the place he'd been sleeping was its own building. He must've passed out on the gangplank if he couldn't even remember setting foot on the island.
"This island used to be a resort, although it's in pretty rough shape now. We were actually going to put you in the cottage across from this one, but the hinges on the door rusted off."
The door of that particular cottage was propped awkwardly in the doorway, Ryota noted. "Are we here because this island is… isolated?" he asked.
"Mm… Yes and no. This place just made the most sense to return to." Spreading his hands, Komaeda adopted the tone of an automated tour guide as he led the way past the other cottages. The wooden pathway was warped and uneven. "These are the cottages. Each one is equipped with a bed and full bath. You may test the plumbing at your own risk."
They turned onto the regular stone path at the crossroads. The main building of the hotel sat a short distance away, flanked by overgrown foliage that may have once been gardens.
"This is the hotel pool. Feel free to take a refreshing dip anytime."
Ryota peered at the black sludge sitting at the bottom of the drained pool. "I think I'll pass."
Komaeda held the door for him as they entered the main hotel. Ryota slowly took in the lobby. It was cleaner than his cottage, although dust still coated the reception desk, and the fabric of the pool table had turned a weird shade of puke.
"This is the hotel lobby." Komaeda was still in character. "Your room has already been booked, so unless you desperately need to speak with management, I wouldn't recommend ringing the bell. You might die choking on a dust cloud, and an untimely death here would be just the worst."
"R-Right..."
They took the stairs to the second floor, stopping in front of an ornate pair of double doors. "Through here is the restaurant. We've only started three fires in the kitchen so far, and Souda rewired the entire thing in less than a day. The Ultimates really are amazing, aren't they?"
Ryota swallowed thickly. "Everyone… is in there?"
"Yup!"
Before he could collect his thoughts or even catch his breath, Komaeda flung the doors wide open. Ryota's body seized as he caught glimpses of people inside. Energetic chatter drifted out into the hallway.
He wasn't ready to face them, he needed more time—
"Welcome to Jabberwock Island, Mitarai! We hope you enjoy your stay."
A rough shove from behind thrust him into the dining room.
The noise dimmed for a few heavy heartbeats while Ryota looked frantically around the room, feeling like a rabbit dropped into a den of wolves. And then, like a string breaking, the tension snapped and he was overwhelmed with yelling.
"He's awake!"
"Yo, man! You feelin' any better?"
"Course not! He hasn't eaten anything yet! Who can feel better without having food?"
"That's just you, you giant hag."
The girl with the facial piercings and multicolored hair was the first one over to him. Ryota couldn't recall her name. He stared blankly when she grabbed his hands.
"Ibuki is totally stoked to see Ryota awake!"
Ibuki, then. "Y-Yeah," he said. "I'm, uh…"
The nurse girl edged into his vision next. Tsumiki, he remembered her. "A-Are you feeling quite alright, Mitarai?" she asked. "D-Does your head hurt? You a-aren't running a fever, are you?"
"N-No," he replied, quickly lifting his hands. "I'm just a bit hungry..."
"Hmph. Of course you are. An army marches on its stomach, doesn't it?"
Ibuki finally stepped aside for the Imposter. He was dressed as Byakuya Togami, sporting everything from his pretty blue eyes to his impossibly haughty attitude. Ryota peered up at him.
"I'm… not a soldier."
"Just as well, you'd be utterly useless." The Imposter held his stern gaze for a few moments longer before cracking a smile. "You look dead on your feet. Let's get some food in you."
Ryota stared, wide-eyed, from the Imposter to Ibuki to Tsumiki and back again. Their smiles were so warm, completely without animosity. He swallowed again, feeling heat behind his eyes.
He didn't deserve such kindness from them.
A hand rested on his shoulder, and Ryota glanced over at Izuru Kamukura. Or, the boy who was Izuru Kamukura. Gone were the suit, the empty expression, and the hair, but the resemblance was still unmistakable. Looking into Kamukura's one red eye, Ryota knew instantly this was the boy who had been with Junko Enoshima that day.
The day everything had fallen apart.
"Mitarai." His voice was soft and kind, not unlike Komaeda's earlier. It was the kind of tone that smiled at you. "I'm glad to see you."
Glad to see you.
Glad to see you.
Glad to see you.
As the words echoed in his head, the tears that had welled up finally spilled down his cheeks. "I'm glad to see you, too," he said. "I really am."
Kamukura squeezed his shoulder, stepping away to walk past him. Ibuki gently tugged on Ryota's wrist. "Hey, come sit with us!"
Ryota cast one glance back, catching the encouraging expressions of Komaeda and Kamukura, before allowing himself to be pulled further into the restaurant. He wasn't awake enough to deal with this kind of commotion, but as he was forced into a chair between Ibuki and the Imposter, he realized he didn't hate it. Hanamura dropped a steaming plate of food in front of him with a flourish. Tsumiki hovered nearby, stammering something about chewing thoroughly to prevent choking.
These people… really are something special.
Hajime lingered in the doorway of the restaurant to make sure Mitarai would be alright with the others before turning to the hallway. He caught the edge of Komaeda's sleeve on his way out, giving it a gentle tug before letting go. It wasn't necessary to check if he was following.
As they descended the stairs to the lobby, Hajime ran his hand along the peeling wallpaper. His enhanced mind allowed him to catalog each detail of this Jabberwock Island and compare it against the Jabberwock Island of the simulation. The Neo World Program was truly impressive, he'd realized. Some of the discrepancies were nearly imperceptible, even to him.
It kept the part of him that was Izuru Kamukura entertained, playing real-life "Spot the Differences."
Komaeda finally fell into step at his side when they reached the road. They walked in silence, past the empty ranch and the ferry landing. Souda had been so delighted to see the ferry when they'd woken up, he'd nearly slipped off the dock into the ocean in his rush to get to it.
"It has an engine!" he'd exclaimed, while reverently stroking the watercraft.
Hajime's feet finally stopped in the sand, halfway down the beach. The sun hovered above the horizon, painting the clouds in pastel pinks and oranges.
"It's funny," he said softly. "I can't really bring myself to hate this place. I wondered if I'd feel differently when we left. I thought it might be hard to come back here, but… this place is broken, just like us."
"Are you suggesting Jabberwock Island wants hope, too, Hinata?"
"We need to give it hope that it can be beautiful again. We'll mend its wounds, piece by piece, just like we're doing with each other."
Hajime sat down, and Komaeda did so as well. Pulling his knees up, Hajime rested his cheek against them so he could look at Komaeda. They'd spoken since Komaeda had woken from his coma, but it had been a mere scratch on the surface of the pile of stuff between them. Analyzing the killing game's events from Izuru's perspective had provided him with more insight, but there came a point when he simply forced his brain to quiet. He didn't have to create a thousand-page dissertation on the intricacies Komaeda's behavior within the Neo World Program and come to a concrete conclusion.
Komaeda was alive, they could talk.
"This is the beach, isn't it? The beach where we met. Except we didn't meet there—we met on the boat beforehand. I was so delighted to speak with you, and you said I was boring. Do you remember that?"
Hajime nodded. "I do. I remembered in the Program, actually… during our confrontation with the AI Junko Enoshima."
"Oh, really? It seems, even then, you were far more capable than I anticipated."
"I remember everything clearly now," Hajime said. "I remember getting on the boat, waking up, talking to you, speaking with the Future Foundation members, introducing the corrupted AI to the Neo World Program… A lot of things happened in that span of time, but the one thing I happened to recall while in the Program was speaking with you."
Komaeda laughed in that breezy way of his. The laugh that effortlessly smothered emotions. "I must have been a particularly ugly stain in your mind, then."
"That's wrong," Hajime responded automatically. During the final killing, Komaeda and Chiaki Nanami had died—the two people he'd been closest to, for better or worse. So it only made sense that a memory involving one of the two would have surfaced when he became aware he was in a simulation. However, he had no recent memories of Nanami because she had died during the fall of Hope's Peak Academy, so Komaeda was the next logical candidate. He opened his mouth to explain this line of reasoning, but what came out was a rebuttal for an entirely different statement. "You're beautiful."
Komaeda stared at him, shell-shocked.
What…? Why did I say that?
It wasn't as if ugly was more accurate. A little worse for the wear, but they all were. Hajime always considered Komaeda to be pretty, although he never would have said it outright…
"That's..." Komaeda was at a loss for words. "Nobody has ever… said that to me."
Hajime couldn't look at him any longer. He dug his hands into the sand, feeling the temperature drop the further down he pushed his fingers. "I'm somebody, aren't I?"
"You're absolutely somebody, Hinata, that's why it's totally unnecessary for you to go out of your way to make disgusting trash like me feel—"
"I'm not saying it for your sake," Hajime said, feeling his voice slipping down into its old monotone. Is this what I'm resorting to? Shutting down into Izuru? "Shut up and take the damn compliment."
Silence fell. Waves lapped at the beach, leaving uneven patterns in the sand. He watched them intently, trying to predict the next shape.
And failing.
A smile broke across his face.
"The Future Foundation has agreed to monthly supply runs," he said. "We'll have to create an inventory of necessities before they come back next week so that we can begin rebuilding. Food intake needs to be closely monitored—we don't want to put unnecessary strain on the Future Foundation's resources. We'll also need tools and medicinal supplies, and building evaluations will have to be conducted. The warehouses on the fifth island can be used for storage— "
Komaeda's chuckle snapped his sentence in half.
"And which of us will take initiative to conduct all these operations?"
Izuru blinked at him. "This isn't complicated. These are just the basic steps for our continued survival. Unless you'd rather allow our surroundings to crumble along with us."
"An insignificant bug like me wouldn't even consider arguing with you," Komaeda said. "Of course I'm not saying you're wrong, but we're going to need a leader. Someone to become our beacon of hope, so to speak."
"I had also considered this. Sonia, or perhaps even Kuzuryuu, would be most suitable."
"You think so?"
"They both meet the necessary requirements of running a small organization of people."
Tilting his face toward the sky, Komaeda leaned back in the sand on his elbows. "...Is that so? You know, Hinata, I'll always chase after the brightest hope. A mediocre hope just isn't good enough in the presence of a brilliant, glittering one."
Hearing his name come out of Komaeda's mouth brought Hajime a little more back to himself. Although, referring to Hajime as himself wasn't entirely accurate. Izuru was just as much himself as Hajime was. Rubbing his face, Hajime concentrated on Komaeda's meaning instead. "...There's only one person you'll consider following," he said, peering at the sunset through his fingers. "That's what you mean, isn't it?"
"Hope is a good leadership quality, you know? Back at Hope's Peak, Chiaki Nanami was elected our class representative because she worked hard to help unite us. She became our hope. For us now, I think it's the same." Komaeda dropped all the way down onto his back and folded his hands over his chest. "The leader we require has to embody our hope. Am I wrong, Hinata?"
Hajime fished into his pocket for Nanami's hairpin and held it, smoothing his thumb over the pixel starship. "...No, you aren't wrong."
"Ah, is that…?"
Wordlessly, Hajime handed him the pin. Komaeda lifted it up over his head, examining it from every angle with a surprisingly fond expression. When he tried to hand it back, Hajime just shook his head. "I wanted to become someone she could be proud of, you know," he said. "I wanted to be able to face her and say look, I have this amazing talent. It's only now that I have more talents than I know what to do with that I understand just possessing a talent isn't what matters. Having talent is boring. Having people to love and make memories with is much more important."
"...We all carry a piece of who she was inside of us," Komaeda said, sitting up again. "But your piece is definitely the brightest, Hinata."
Komaeda offered him the pin again. This time, Hajime took it, but only so he could attach it to the hood of Komaeda's coat. "There. Consider it a token of our friendship."
"F-Friendship? Hinata, that's too much, I… I'll lose it or break it, or something terrible will happen to it..."
"Then I'll give you something else." It was true, giving anything of value to Komaeda placed it directly into the firing line of his bad luck, but the moment Hajime had pinned it on his coat, he felt a weight lift. Nanami had adored all of her classmates, and it was Hajime's duty to express that in her stead. "I want you to have that."
Komaeda blinked rapidly, as if he was fighting off tears. "I don't deserve it at all, Hinata…"
"Keeping it would be selfish at this point, and there's no one else I'd rather give it to."
"How… can you say that? In the end, everything I worked for was completely worthless." Komaeda's voice hitched in his throat. "Worthless, just like… just like..."
Suddenly, Komaeda was on his feet and lurching toward the ocean. Hajime immediately jumped up and snatched his arm, jerking him back. Without thinking, he tightened his arms around Komaeda and hugged him close. It had been ages since he'd held anybody like this, and it felt good—especially when Komaeda's hands tentatively closed on the back of his shirt.
In the moment, he'd barely been able to process his emotions upon discovering Komaeda's dead body. Hajime hadn't considered him a friend at all by that point, but it still caused a piece of him to shatter. Solving a case suddenly became impossible without Komaeda's keen intellect. The betrayal he felt when he realized Komaeda had orchestrated his own death to kill them cut deeper than anything he'd ever felt before. Even now, with all of his memories intact, nothing held a candle to it. It was only after learning the truth of what caused Komaeda to go off the rails that the ache in his chest began to fade.
"I told you when you woke up; I understand," he murmured. "I understand the decisions you made, Komaeda. I forgive you."
Komaeda trembled in his arms, sobbing into his neck. Hajime rubbed his back.
"We have all the time in the world to understand each other. There's a lot of things we couldn't say to each other because of the killing game, but we can discuss everything now." Hajime pulled back a bit so he could see Komaeda's tear-streaked face. Gently, he wiped away some of the wetness with his thumb. "Let's work together for real this time. What do you say?"
Hesitantly, Komaeda placed his hand over Hajime's and squeezed. "I promise I won't fail again," he said. "For the sake of hope, I'll do—"
"—anything. I know, Komaeda." Hajime regarded him, a smile crossing his face. Komaeda would continue to cause trouble. Whether it was a disaster out of a blessing or a blessing out of a disaster, those terrifying, impossible circumstances would continue to befall them. Izuru was looking forward to it. "We'll chase that hope of yours together."
"I… would like that very much, Hinata."
"Why is there even assigned seating?" Saionji griped as she dropped down into the chair beside Kamukura. "We're not in school anymore."
Komaeda shrugged apologetically. He hadn't sat down yet, but hovered behind his seat. "I'm sorry, but if you could please humor me…?"
"Nothing good ever comes out of humoring you," Souda grumbled.
Koizumi punched his shoulder without looking up from her camera. "Just shut up so we can get this over with. I want to take some pictures before it gets pitch black outside."
The tables in the restaurant had been pushed to the walls, leaving ample room in the center for a circle of chairs. Much to Ryota's relief, his messily-scrawled namecard was on the chair next to the Imposter. To his left was Nidai—the Ultimate Team Manager or something—who, admittedly, scared the shit out of him. As it was, he felt totally dwarfed between the two.
Komaeda finally took his seat once everyone arrived. There was a few moments of silence while he struggled getting something out of his coat pocket, during which everyone exchanged confused looks.
Tsumiki finally spoke up. "H-Hey, um… doesn't something about this arrangement seem… k-kinda… familiar?"
"Eh? You think so too?" Owari asked. "I thought I was the only one."
"Tch." Kuzuryuu scoffed, tilting back in his chair. Only having one eye did nothing to dampen the heat of his glare. "Are you guys all fucking morons or something? Of course it's familiar. This is how we were all seated during the class trials."
Chills ran down Ryota's spine as the atmosphere in the room turned icy. He glanced up at the Imposter, who seemed just as dumbfounded as him.
"Wh-Why the hell would you do something like that? Are you some kind of sadist?" Souda, who was directly across the room from Komaeda, leaped out of his chair and threateningly crossed the circle.
"Sit down, Souda," The voice was low and cool—the voice of Kamukura. It froze Souda in his tracks. "I told him this arrangement was fine."
Souda turned on him. "Y-You did? But—"
"We've been discussing things like this for weeks. There's no reason to adjust it. Although..." Kamukura glanced over at Komaeda, who was several seats away. "You're too far."
Komaeda laughed. "Perhaps it can be changed in the future."
"Hey! That's no fair!" Saionji yelled. "I wanna sit next to Mahiru! Hinata, switch seats with me."
"Can we just get this started already?" Kuzuryuu snapped.
Souda reluctantly sat back down and order was temporarily restored, although everyone still looked on edge. Spots started to swim in Ryota's vision and he hastily sucked in air, not realizing he'd stopped breathing. What was this emergency meeting supposed to be about?
"Thank you all for allowing me to interrupt your precious evening," Komaeda began. "Honestly, I'm beyond flattered that you chose to attend at all—"
"You told me I'd get food," Owari said. "Well? Where is it?"
Komaeda opened his mouth, but Ibuki spoke first.
"Nagito said we could have a party. Ibuki wants music!"
Even Hanamura joined in the fray. "Aha! You said there'd be plenty of beautiful women! Clearly, you're a dirty liar—" He froze, shooting a mortified look around the room. "I-I-I-I m-mean—"
"There's still food in the kitchen and we can have a singalong afterward, if you want," Komaeda said. "I knew if it was just insignificant me asking, none of you would've shown up."
"So you used your standard tactics to trick us," Tanaka said. "For what foul purpose have you summoned us here, then?"
Komaeda cleared his throat, unfolding the piece of paper he'd taken from his pocket. Methodically, he began tearing it into strips. "It's my belief that in order to move forward in our pursuit of hope, we need to elect a leader. Am I wrong to assume you share these sentiments?"
"I was actually thinking about that, too," Koizumi admitted. "We'll only last so long without some sort of system of government."
Sonia gave a firm nod. "I am in agreement. Becoming an anarchist society would be a fascinating social experiment, however I do not believe that will achieve anything."
"I-I agree with Miss Sonia!" Souda said hastily.
"Then shall we put it to a vote?" Komaeda asked.
"Wait a minute," Ryota said. All eyes were suddenly on him and he tensed. "Sh-Shouldn't we… nominate someone first?"
"I'd considered that, but… I have a definite feeling that a blind vote without nominations will end up unanimous," Komaeda said. "I've prepared some—"
"If you say chopsticks..." Souda shook a wrench at him. "...I'm gonna beat you with this."
"—ballots, so if you could all please take one, and a pen..."
A few moments later, Ryota was staring down at a blank scrap of paper with a pen in his hand. It seemed silly to include him in the voting; he barely knew any of them. Who was he supposed to choose? What if there was a tie vote, or his vote caused the wrong person to win by one point? But… Komaeda had seemed pretty confident that everyone would choose the same person. So, if that was the case, the most obvious person to pick had to be him.
Izuru Kamukura.
"Oh," he whispered. That was silly, why didn't he write Hinata's name? That's what they all called him. In the end, Ryota left it as it was and folded the ballot. They would know who he meant.
Komaeda collected the ballots in Souda's hat—snatched off his head and handed over by Pekoyama—before sitting down to tally the votes. His smile grew wider as he opened paper after paper until he tossed the whole lot of them up into the air.
"It appears we're all of the same mind," he said, laughing. "I'd hoped this was how things would play out. Congratulations, Hinata."
"Eh? Did Hinata vote for himself?" Ibuki asked over the sound of everyone's claps and shouts.
"Ol' Kamukura-brains didn't vote," Saionji said. "He just stuffed the paper in his pocket, which, if you ask me, is just as egotistical."
Kamukura chuckled sheepishly. "I was sorta afraid this was how things would play out… This decision needed to be yours, though, without my input. That's why I allowed Komaeda to organize this instead of doing it myself. Even though I could have easily requested this position, I needed to make sure it was what everyone wanted."
"Mm. I admire your honesty," Nidai said. "Humility is one of the traits of a good leader. But all good leaders also need good assistants. Will you be choosing an assistant manager?"
"I thought about that, too—"
"Egomaniac," Saionji hissed.
"I appreciate every single one of you more than you know, but for this… It's unfortunate that my experiences with you don't extend beyond the Neo World Program. I wish I'd had more time to get build better relationships with all of you, but right now, I'm going to choose someone I've learned to depend on unconditionally."
Ryota discreetly peered around the circle. There was really only one person who seemed to fit that bill, as far as he knew.
"Kuzuryuu, would you do that for me?"
Cheers erupted again, even louder this time, but Ryota didn't join in. He looked from Kamukura to Kuzuryuu—who was blushing furiously—and then over to Komaeda. The white-haired boy was smiling, like this was something he'd predicted as well.
Kuzuryuu, huh…? The decision seemed logical enough, he supposed, but that wasn't the person Ryota expected him to pick.
Shortly after, their meeting was dismissed. Ryota scrubbed at his eyes as he exited the hotel lobby with the Imposter. Only two of the pool lights were working, giving off just enough light so no one accidentally stumbled and fell in.
"Ah… Looks like it's too late for Koizumi to take those pictures," the Imposter said, squinting in the darkness.
"If she has a quality camera, she might be able to get some by the moonlight," Ryota said. "Hey… Why didn't Kamu—I mean, Hinata pick Komaeda as his assistant? The two of them have discussed everything with each other so far."
The Imposter sighed, taking a seat on one of the deck chairs. Ryota sat down next to him.
"I think Hinata really wanted to choose Komaeda. If he'd done that, it's true that we would've respected his decision, but..." Pulling off the glasses of his Togami disguise, the Imposter stared down at his faint reflection in the lenses. "Not all of us are willing to trust Komaeda. I've only heard bits and pieces of what others have told me, but there's a general consensus that his actions in the Neo World Program are hard to look back on and forgive. Choosing Kuzuryuu was the right thing to do. We need to slowly build back our confidence."
Ryota nodded slowly. "I… understand, I think. I know even less about what happened than you do, but it's true that everybody is pretty jumpy around Komaeda. N-No one is going to hate me for being nice to him, are they?"
"I wouldn't worry about it. Like you said, you don't know anything about him. But I don't either, so..." The Imposter flashed him a very genuine, un-Togamilike grin. "We'll have to remake our friendships together."
"…Y-Yeah. I'd like that."
A/N: So, you may have noticed I experimented around with how Hinata refers to himself in the narration. I'd like to say I have some sort of grand, intellectual reasoning for doing this, but I, uh, don't. I've seen Hinata/Kamukura written a lot of different ways, but for me, personally, I don't think it's as black and white as having a split personality like Fukawa and Genocide Jill. When he's talking to Mitarai in the Hope episode, he clearly swaps back and forth between himself and Kamukura, so I want to try and reflect that subtle change using the narration. It might work, it might not; I'm just playing around with my own understanding of it.
I also read a fanfic a short while ago where the author mentioned something about how the POV character wouldn't refer to themselves with their surname, and I thought that was genius and have since internalized it. I wish I remember who it was I saw first mention that, but alas! My memory is really, really bad!
Also, also, (as say the tags) I haven't thought about pairings past Komaeda/Hinata. I haven't actually thought much past them at all, but I tried really really hard because there's 16 people on the island, not two. SO, as pairings come up, I will add them into the tags.
Thank you so, so much for reading, and until next time!
RegenesisX