A/N: I completely forgot to upload this here I'm so sorry.
Setting: Non-despair AU
Rating: T
Genre: Drama, Friendship
Characters: literally the entire cast minus tengan because he's a punk ass bitch
Word Count: 1,988
In a Kinder World
Chapter 1: Beautiful Days
The vast distances between the stars is nothing compared to the infinite distances between human hearts. — Albert Einstein
"Saionji Hiyoko?" Kizakura Kouichi called out from the class roster he held in his hand, the name list meticulously arranged in iroha order by the headmaster.
Saionji harrumphed in acknowledgment, before going back to insulting her seatmates.
"Mitarai Ryouta?" Kizakura asked, tapping his pen lightly against the edge of his table, eyes scanning the room for his wayward student. When it was evident that no reply was forthcoming, Kizakura sighed before noting yet another absence in his roster. The row containing Mitarai's name was already streaked with nothing but red marks.
"Mioda Ibuki?" Kizakura said, calling the last student on the roster.
"Here, sensei!" was the cheerful reply from Mioda, who was sitting near the back of the classroom next to the windows.
Kizakura flashed Mioda with his best grin.
"Well, that's the last of you," Kizakura said, flipping the folder containing the class roster shut and turning to face the blackboard, chalk already in hand. "So what do you guys want to do today?" he said playfully.
Just another normal day at Hope's Peak Academy.
"It's just for a few weeks, then you can go home again," Mitarai Akiko reassured her son, who was currently slouched over his hospital bed wearing a sullen expression to go with the flimsy hospital–issued gown.
"But Kaa–san, I'm fine," Ryouta complained, adjusting his position to sit up a bit straighter. "And I've already missed every school day since the entrance ceremony," he continued, crossing his arms across his chest, making his mother laugh at the gesture, before suddenly shifting to a more serious expression.
"Trust me, if you were really as fine as you claim, you'd be in school today, not here," Akiko told her son, a twinkle of sadness in her eyes. "Listen to the doctors, and for gods' sake, behave," she said, her voice assuming an affectionate tone as she reached out from where she was sitting at her son's bedside to ruffle his hair, so similar to her own, Ryouta immediately attempting to swat away her hand. "I'll come back when I get the time, and I'll try convincing your father to go with me."
Ryouta smiled back at his mother. "Fine, Kaa–san. Just promise you'll take care of my cats while I'm here."
"Of course," assured Akiko as she gathered her things. "They miss you already, so hurry up and get better." Standing up to leave, she leaned down to kiss her son's forehead. "Bye, dumpling. Get some rest when I leave."
Less than ten minutes after his mother left the hospital premises, however, Ryouta was already plotting his latest escape attempt.
Movies have it all wrong, of course. One of the things Ryouta learned over the dozens of times he attempted to slip out was that one should never yank out the IV line, since that only invited trouble. Not that he wouldn't get in trouble for pulling it off slowly by himself and escaping, anyway, but at least it was lessened. Even an extended hospital stay can't stop him from going to the convention like he'd planned for months. Sorry, Kaa–san.
The escape plan hinged on two things: a suitable change of clothes and the nurses never finding out he's left the building.
His change of casual clothing was already safely tucked beneath his bedsheet, so no problems there.
Since the hospital never actually bothered changing the nurses' rotation schedule, which remained the same for as long as he can remember, he'd be able to slip in and out of the hospital before a nurse comes into his room to check on him.
Those two out of the way, Ryouta's certain he'd be able to pull this escape plan off without a hitch this time, unlike the few dozen or so previous attempts. Probably.
In hindsight, Ryouta thought as he passed by the gates entirely unnoticed by the guard (which was weird, considering he didn't bother removing the name tag attached to his wrist), maybe he shouldn't have sneaked out of hospital. His mother already had a lot of things on her mind, he didn't need to add himself to that list. Oh well.
He was still guilty half an hour later as he neared the convention center when the familiar feeling of his heart trying to mimic the drums' fast–paced routine in a Noh performance. And it had all been going so well.
Ten minutes after he went in a nearby konbini to sit down in an attempt to relax and try to stop his heart from pounding so much, it certainly wasn't going away any time soon. On the contrary, it felt like it was getting worse. Sighing and admitting defeat (Kaa–san was definitely going to kill him when she found out), Ryouta stood up, one hand placed firmly on his chest, to start on the long trek back to the hospital when a bad case of lightheadedness decided to descend upon him, rooting him to the spot. Two seconds later, he fainted rather gracelessly straight into the arms of the nearest unsuspecting stranger.
When Ryouta next woke up, it was to the blinding glare of the fluorescent lights in his hospital room (or at least he assumed he was in the same room he left this morning), automatically making him raise the hand not connected to the IV line to his eyes to shield them until they adjusted to the lighting. From his window, he saw that the sky already casted an orange hue, meaning he was out cold for at least a few hours, if not an entire day. Kaa–san probably knows by now. If he was lucky, she wouldn't talk his ear off. The puppy dog eyes stopped working on her when he turned twelve, anyway, so he wouldn't get out of this mess without at least being guilt–tripped by her into obedience.
"You're awake."
Yep, there was no escaping this discussion. When Ryouta finally dared to remove his hand from his eyes, he found his mother looming over him, her face uncomfortably close to his own, her neutral expression hiding her exasperation at his antics.
Ryouta smiled sheepishly back at her. "Sorry, Kaa–san."
His mother flicked on his forehead in response, the neutral expression dissolving into a frustrated smile, before she sat down on the plastic chair she'd dragged near to his bed. "I did try to sound surprised when the hospital called me to say you've wandered off again before reappearing passed out in the arms of a high school student, you know," she said, sighing afterwards. "You're getting way too old to still be doing this, Ryouta."
Ryouta shrugged, his eyes not quite meeting his mother's.
"Next time tell me when you want to go to a con, okay? Don't just vanish on me."
Ryouta blinked at his mother's words, thoroughly surprised. Of all the things she could've said, he definitely wasn't expecting that. He turned to his side so he was fully facing his mother.
His mother laughed at his reaction. "What, you thought I was joking? We'll go together next year, I promise," she said, her expression softening once more. "Oh, and by the way, that person you fainted on? He's also attending Hope's Peak, so now you've officially embarrassed yourself to a schoolmate, and you haven't even attended classes yet," she chuckled, which only intensified when she noticed her son's furious blushing.
"Your schoolmate's right outside, said he'd wait for you to wake up first before he left. I'll send him in so you can meet each other. I should go home, too. Your dad's leaving the office any minute now and I still haven't prepared dinner. Be good."
Before Ryouta could open his mouth to protest, his mother stood up from her chair to place a kiss on his forehead before heading for the door, her hand waving him goodbye.
A few moments later, she returned, pushing a confused student wearing the Hope's Peak uniform through the door. She winked conspiratorially at her son when she was done, before walking out the door again.
This was going to be a long evening.
Ryouta and his schoolmate stared awkwardly at each other. His schoolmate, Ryouta noticed, had slicked–back dark hair slightly longer than his own. The contrasts did not end there. His schoolmate physically looked the complete opposite of him, tall when Ryouta was painfully short (people who didn't know him always had a hard time believing he was fifteen because of his height, much to his annoyance), and portly when he was notoriously underweight.
Ryouta was still staring when his schoolmate cleared his throat in an attempt to break the ice.
"Uh, hi?" his schoolmate said awkwardly, his hand giving a little wave.
Ryouta waved back, sure that he looked just as awkward. "Sorry I troubled you today. That thing doesn't actually happen often," he blurted out in a rush, not even bothering to pause for breath between words. He'd probably bow in apology if he could, too. Oh yeah, and it does usually happen.
His schoolmate waved off the apology, smiling at him. "It's fine. I'm glad you're feeling better, though."
Ryouta nodded in response. "Also, sorry about my mother. She's always like that." He shrugged before offering his hand to his schoolmate. "Mitarai Ryouta. Nice to meet you."
His schoolmate took the proffered hand, and at the mention of his name, recognition flashed in his schoolmate's eyes. "Hope's Peak Academy, Class 77?"
"Yeah," Ryouta admitted. "How'd you know?"
The smile on his schoolmate's face widened. "We're from the same class. Kizakura–sensei's always frowning whenever he reaches your name during roll call. On the days when he bother's to go to class, that is. Yukizome–sensei's mostly covering for him."
The lint on Ryouta's blanket suddenly became interesting. "Well, now you know why I don't show up in class," he said, looking frustrated in trying to pull the lint off. "You haven't told me your name yet."
When Ryouta said that, his schoolmate's smile dissolved, replaced with an expression not dissimilar to someone passing stones. "I'll tell you when you're back in class. Call me Sagishi for now," his schoolmate, Sagishi to Ryouta now, offered.
Ryouta frowned. "Impostor? Why that name though?"
The smile came back to Sagishi's face, but now it looked more like wincing, forced. "It's what everyone calls me." Sagishi caught a glimpse of his watch. "I should be going. Visiting hours end at 7, right? I'll come back tomorrow if you want me to."
"Eh?" Ryouta said, confused by the sudden change in topic, and still a bit loopy from what happened today. "Ah, oh yeah, the nurses should be shooing out the visitors soon. And, uh, are you sure you want to come back tomorrow?"
Sagishi's face fell before Ryouta hastily clarified, shaking his head and frowning. "It's not that I don't want you to, it's that you could choose not to come if you think you'll have to force yourself to do it. It's fine if you don't really want to. Honest."
"No, it's fine, I really want to do it. Maybe I'll even drop off your backlog of classwork," Sagishi assured him.
Ryouta groaned at the mention of classwork, prompting Sagishi to laugh, and soon Ryouta joined in, too, but not after pouting for a bit.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Sagishi asked.
Ryouta hummed in thought before answering, smiling a little. "Tomorrow."
A/N: Since this was meant for this year's NaNo, I have most of the chapters written down, so updates will be weekly until the AO3 posts catch up with what I've written so far, in which case updates will turn sporadic because uni.
I proofread this like six times already, so if you still find errors, feel free to murder me with a hatchet.