[-x-]
"Hajime..."
There it was. The tone that made his spine freeze instantaneously, stopping him from taking another step. Palm sweating, knees weak, arms are heavy, there was a suspense in the air that he couldn't stomach.
A delicate pair of hands grabbed his arm and forced him to face his fears.
"Uhh, heyyy Mahiru…" playing it off easy, trying his hardest not to stumble on his words. "I didn't mean for this to happen, y'know?"
"What the hell happened exactly?" her eyes narrowed.
"I don't know!" he quickly retorted. "I'm sorry! I tried my hardest to prevent this!"
"Your apology won't get us out of this." She surveyed the area surrounding them.
Inside their homeroom, the entire class besides one was present, including some of the students from the younger classes. Most wore a shocked expression, some were grinning from ear to ear, a few simply had a smile. Until one screamed.
"I CALLED IT!" Ibuki yelled on top of her lungs, starting the barrage of commentary.
"Yeah, shut your damn mouth," Fuyuhiko massaged his ears, "Everyone fuckin' did."
"No need to be rude about it, Young Mas- I mean Fuyuhiko." Peko caught her words before her friend could warn her for the 1000th time. Though, he was probably proud that she opposed him in the first place.
"Such a blissful day for us to 'bust' them!" Sonia clasped her hands together, glee apparent in her eyes.
"Great plan, Nagachi!" Akane wrapped her arms around the luckster, "You can cop some of the goods if you feel like it."
"N-No need for that, Owari-san." Nagito chuckled nervously, struggling to escape her chokehold.
"Hinata-senpai, I wouldn't have known!" Makoto expressed his disbelief. "I thought you had the hots for Nanami-senpai, I even gonna lose a bet with Celeste-san on it."
"Makoto, we have to go to class. Kizakura-sensei requested us to finalize the project before class starts." Kirigiri called out, grabbing the hood of the optimist and dragging him by the heels through the classroom door.
"Right on, Kyoko!" Joyfully complying without a fight.
"Oi, Kirigiri!" the blue-haired idol called, "You don't get to drag him off like that!" the detective pretended to not hear Sayaka and calmly smiled. Not noticing the glint from a binoculars from a tree adjacent to the windows, a figure fumed.
"Didn't think I'd see the day that Hajime would get a girl before me." Kazuichi enviously commented, a slight break in tone.
"Not like you'd ever get one in the first place, you incel." the class 79th's gremlin just had to make his upperclassman even more depressed. "In fact, that ugly whore in my class shares the same fate."
"Tiny dick! I can hear you, I'm right here!" an agitated inventor grabbed the supreme leader by the collar. "Wanna repeat that again?"
"Oh, gladly." he grinned.
"Eeep!" Miu dropped the boy and took off. The purple-haired boy trailed her, menacingly cackling.
"I-I'm really happy for you g-guys!" Mikan cheered on the disclosed couple.
"COUNT ME IN!" Nekomaru shattered nearby eardrums in a three kilometer radius. "HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS ARE INTEGRAL PARTS OF AN ATHLETE!"
"This makes me wonder the naughty naugthies they've committed so far~." Teruteru chuckled to himself.
"Alright stop! Everyone, zip it!" the redhead cut through their words.
And so they did. No one nearby wanted to suffer the same tragic fate the unlucky poor soul had when they upset the mother hen's wrath. The photographer had virtually the same pigment as her hair.
"No one talks about this till I get some answers out of this unreliable guy." establishing her rule without pause. "Now, Hajime Hinata, why would you reveal this relationship to the entire school?"
The boy in question was dreading to answer, already knowing he'd have to take the full brunt of her lectures. He didn't have any way out of this one, might as well tell the whole story.
"So… it was two nights ago when Fuyuhiko told me to meet up at his dorm room…"
[-x-]
~Flashback~
"Yo, Hajime." the man of the hour greeted as he pulled the door opened. "No one followed you, did they?"
"Least no one that I could notice." he replied.
"'Kay good. Enter." giving space for the brown-haired boy to enter. "We got a lotta to discuss."
"Like what?" Kicking off his shoes and placing them on the rack.
"The looks you're givin' Koizumi." a pair of golden eyes scrutinized him.
"What kinda…" Hajime looked flabbergasted by the accusation. "Dude, explain yourself."
"I ain't got shit to explain." plopping down on his zabuton around the chabudai. "You do."
That assured the counselor that his brother knew what he was talking about. Still, he's going to try his best not to expose his connection to the photographer just yet. Sitting down across his friend, Hajime mustered his most impassive look.
Fuyuhiko grabbed the bottled orange juice he prepared beforehand and poured two glasses. He slid one towards Hajime and clutched the other.
"Not sure what you mean by that." setting his chin on his palm.
"Fuck off, Hajime." Fuyuhiko squinted. "You got that soft look when you glance at her."
"I always have that expression." he justified, sipping some of his beloved beverage.
"You ain't a great liar, lemme tell ya." drumming his fingers on the wood.
"But I'm not lying."
The yakuza sighed. "There's no gettin' through you… at least not without backup."
"Backup?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Kazuichi! You can come out now!"
The pink-haired mechanic kicked the door open, a grin plastered on his face. He sat between the two boys, but closer to the blonde.
"Tsk, tsk tsk, you didn't think ya could hide it from the bois could ya Hajime?" incompetently trying to play the hard boiled detective.
"Okay, what the fuck is going on here?"
This wasn't just a simple confrontation, these guys planned an entire sting operation. Not a great one mind you considering members they have, but it was something. And from the looks of it, Fuyuhiko didn't have much of a choice.
Nagito would bump the risk level of the operation hundredfold, easily making everything worse. Even if the walls are soundproof, they didn't make it Nekomaru-proof, the man couldn't for the life of him lower his decibel level once.
They certainly wouldn't be able to get Ryota to agree with it, the boy's a mole and he prefers to stay in his hole. Teruteru was a clear no, he presumed there wasn't even a consideration to begin with. And Gundham was busy taking care of his animals on the fifth floor to unveil his secrets, forcing him would be futile.
So there was only one guy left.
"We're trying to extract information from you." Kazuichi fished out a pair of purple sunglasses, likely thinking it'd make him look badass, "Now spit it!"
"C'mon, Hajime. There ain't no use tryna keep it from us." A sharp tone came from the boy, clearly utilizing his talent to intimidate the counselor.
"You guys are insane." he voiced.
"Still no budging…" sighing once more.
"Yeah, I don't think we'll get him to admit it." Kazuichi's look of disappointment then turned into a look of deviousness. Reaching into a pocket on his blue jumpsuit, he pulled out several photographs and laid them upside down.
"Now Hajime… you have one more chance, reveal it… or I will." tapping one of the photos, itching to flip it.
The brown-haired boy was caught in a bind, a checkmate. He can either concede with grace or he can stand his ground to the inevitable defeat. He chose the former.
"Fine." he slumped. "I'm dating Mahiru."
"Yeahhhhhhhhhh!" Both boys yelled in celebration.
"Let's GO!" Kazuichi produced a fist that Fuyuhiko eagerly jabbed.
The laughs continued for till the two ran out of breath. By the end, having to massage the cramps that formed.
"Hoo, hah." the mechanic inhaled some air before proceeding. "So, when'd this start?"
"Before that, can I see the photos first?" Hajime requested.
"Oh these?" casually revealing its contents. "Just fake photo papers we nabbed from the faculty office."
"What?!" the boy screamed.
"Yep." Fuyuhiko had a rare grin displayed on his face. "We got you good."
"Not messin' with ya." Kazuichi confirmed
He snatched the photos and saw that they weren't lying. It was empty, he was conned. Shuffling through once more to verify, nothing.
Downcast, he said, "How did you two know that would even work?"
"Honestly? We didn't think it would." Fuyuhiko admitted, "We kinda just said fuck it and went along with it."
"You serious?" he deadpanned.
"Yeah," Kazuichi sipped on the glass the yakuza poured, to the blond's dismay, "How would we even figure it out?"
"What if we weren't and this was all for nothing?" Hajime pried.
"Then, nothing matters. We could just have another sleepover like last time." shrugging it off like it was nothing.
"...I hate both of you."
"Sure you do, bud." the pink-haired boy placed his arm on his friend's shoulders.
"Back to Kazuichi's question, when did this actually start?"
"Last year's winter party. Remember when I disappeared for an hour? I was at the rooftops with her."
"Shiet, and no one asked you two about it?" Kazuichi scratched his chin.
"All the nosy ones were too wasted to ask."
"That makes sense then." the yakuza nodded.
"Damn, congrats on your relationship."
"She's gonna gut me out if she finds out about this." he looked fearful at the prospects.
"Nah, we won't say shit." Fuyuhiko assured him, "Trust your brother on this."
"Damn right, Fuyu!" Kazuichi pumped a fist in the air.
"I told you not to call me that again!" a nerve popped on his temple.
"Yea, yea. I won't." he responded knowing damn well he might get beheaded next time. Though, the chances of that actually happening is nonexistent unless the mechanic kills his sister Natsumi.
"The hell are you guys gonna do now?" the counselor asked, downing the rest of the orange juice, "You know everything."
"I… good question."
[-x-]
~Present~
"After that, Fuyuhiko thought it'd be a great idea to have a bit of sake to commemorate the occasion."
"How'd that work out for you irresponsible boys?" she rested a hand on her hip. Eyeing the three wrongdoers, all wilting by the judgmental view.
"Not too well…"
"Y-Yeah…" Kazuichi awkwardly said, "We trashed the dorm room, both me and Hajime left and it was nearly 5 in the morning."
"So it wasn't just Hajime at fault… I see."
The look his girlfriend gave him drained all the poise the counselor typically held during these times. He was close to his breaking point, he had to finish this quickly before they said more to incriminate themselves.
"S-So, we got out and I think someone else was there." he reluctantly continued.
[-x-]
~Flashback~
"Hehe… that was wild!" Kazuichi cheered, barely able to keep his balance.
"You drank a bit too much there, just get back to your dorm and sleep." Hajime ordered, silently thanking himself for only drinking a shot, "I'mma do the same, I think Yukizome-sensei would let us skip if we called in sick."
"Righty-O!" he saluted and drunkenly sprinted to his room. Luckily not tripping or crashing into something.
"Oh? What's this?" A voice everyone dreaded to hear echoed behind him. "Why are you awake this early, senpai?"
"Oma…" he turned around to meet the school's troll, "I could ask you the same."
"True that. We could just turn around and forget we ever met this morning," Hajime happily sighed inside his mind, "But that wouldn't be fun, would it?"
"Nah, it is. Just turn around and get back to your dorm." Already walking to his room's direction.
"You know, Hinata-senpai," Kokichi produced his signature grin, "Why don't we chat for a lil' bit? Talk about your love life and how conspicuous it is."
That stopped him in his tracks, "I don't know what you mean by that, kouhai."
"Y'know, for a counselor, you're not exactly the best at conversations."
"Or maybe you're just a weirdo."
"Maybe I am!" he concurred, "Least I'm half decent at lying."
"Understatement of the century."
"Anyways. What about you and that redhead feminist?"
That certainly struck a chord, so the counselor bit the bait.
"Who? Mahiru?"
"Yeah, her!" he affirmed, "That photographer doesn't exactly exude the energy of someone who can be in a relationship with a thumb like you."
"You're just assuming that we're already a couple without evidence."
"I dunno… am I?" taking out his E-Handbook and handing it to Hajime.
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"Open the camera and go on recents." a smirk planted on the leader's face.
The taller of the two pressed opened the app and did what was requested. What popped up shocked him.
"Where and when did you take these?" Hajime demanded.
"The dates are there, no?" Kokichi smiled, "It's a matter of who."
"What does that mean?"
"It wasn't me that took those images, I got them from someone else and they're planning on leaking it today when the sun comes down."
"What?!" grabbing the boy by the collar.
"Hey, hey, don't shoot the messenger," he lifted his arms in surrender, "I'm just here to tell you what they told me. Honestly, you owe me for this."
"Who took these?"
"Can't tell ya." the boy shrugged.
"Why?"
"Gotta keep my pinky promise." he said with the straightest face possible.
Hajime sighed and dropped the boy. This wasn't going to end well. If it wasn't for Mahiru being insistent to keep it a secret from everyone, he would've told everyone already.
'No. Don't blame her for this, this is your problem, deal with it.'
This one was actually a threat, not a fakeout. Now he had to lead an investigation where he had zero clue where to start. So, he decided to question his only lead about it.
"So… are you gonna give me a clue or leave me hanging?"
"C'mon now, senpai," an offended expression left the boy, "You know I'm not like that, so for your first and only clue…"
"Hm?"
"He's a teacher," he revealed.
"That's it?"
"Yep!" winking at his upperclassman, "Toodles!"
"I'll figure this out… I hope." Hajime said as he entered his dorm for a quick nap.
[-x-]
It was nearing the start of homeroom and Hajime was explaining the situation to his two confidants. Two chairs were placed around his table to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.
"Man, you have a whole ass scavenger hunt." Kazuichi commented.
"Yes, I do. Will you help me though?" the counselor was praying that they'd say yes.
"No shit. It's part of the brotherhood code." he smiled.
"Damn right!"
"What are you boys talking about?" a voice called out.
"Shit." Hajime cursed under his breath, "Uh, hey there Koizumi."
"Hey, Hinata." she waved. "Mind answering the question for me?"
"How bout mind your own damn business, woman." Fuyuhiko said.
"Is that how it is, Kurzuryu?" she was exasperated. "Jerk." was the last thing she said as she walked off.
"Did you really have to be that rude to her?" both Kazuichi and Hajime asked.
"No, but she fucks off quickly this way so we win." the yakuza heir shrugged off. "What's your plan Hajime?"
"I say we list out every teacher and do method of elimination." bringing out a piece of paper and a pen.
"This shouldn't take too long since we know the staff pretty well." the mechanic beamed with all his shark toothed glory.
"Yep."
[-x-]
"Alright, we have three contenders." It was lunchtime and the boys were all seated together.
The paper listed: Chisa Yukizome, Monokuma and Usami. The rest of the names were crossed off by scribbles of graphite.
"The last one is probably the least likely. Half the time, Usami isn't even aware of what's happening around school." Hajime justified.
"The first two though… they're both suspicious in their own ways." tapping the pen on his chin, "Yukizome-sensei because she likes to monitor her personal student to the point of kidnapping some of us. Monokuma on the other hand likes to make things worse for anyone that he stumbles close to."
"I'm seriously not convinced that the Headmaster actually granted permission for that bear to roam around the school." Kazuichi scratched his cheek.
"It seriously fucks with me that they let dolls walk around the hallways." Fuyuhiko bit on his fried dough cookies.
"It's weird but eh, it's Hope's Peak, you learn to accept the insane here." the counselor disregarded the thought. "Who do you guys wanna confront first?"
"I'll say Yukizome-sensei cuz we actually know where she is." the mechanic proposed.
"I'm fine with that." the brown-haired boy agreed.
"Yeah, let me finish my cookies first." Munching on his snack at a quicker pace.
"I'm still boggled by how much you like cookies but hate milk. They go so well together!" the pink-haired boy cringed.
"No they fuckin' don't, jackass." he said after downing a glass of water. "Milk tastes like shit and fills your stomach quick."
"Your tastes are weird as hell." he rebutted.
Hajime let the two quarrel and got a headstart to the faculty office.
[-x-]
The three of them exited the office to their dismay. It wasn't their homeroom teacher.
Hajime was forced to reveal the situation to her and got nothing out of it besides the endless talks about contraceptives and how to please a woman. Took the rest of the lunchtime so they'd have to continue this after classes.
"Honestly, why did we think that our teacher would work with such a pain in the ass like Oma?" Kazuichi said.
"Probably the alcohol earlier, I still got a minor headache from it." Hajime ruffled his head.
"We ain't got no choice but to find that bear now." Fuyuhiko groaned.
"This isn't gonna be fun, you sure you guys are still up to the task" he looked at both his friends.
"No-" a quick smack to the head convinced a hesitant Kazuichi, "I-I mean, yes!"
"Course we fuckin' are." a grin appeared on his face.
"Alright, we start directly after the bell rings."
[-x-]
After three hours of searching, they couldn't find a single trace of the monochromatic bear. The trio sat down at the bench beside the fountain.
"When we're trying to find him, he never comes but when we mind our own business. It just pops up out of nowhere." Hajime had his arm laid on top of eyes to cover the sunset's flare.
"Never comes when you need it." Fuyuhiko reiterated, sitting right next to his brother.
"That's what she said." Kazuichi leaned against the fountain, downcast.
None of them had the energy to call out his shitty joke.
"You guys think we missed a spot?" Hajime asked, desperately looking for a smidgen of hope.
"Nah, we went everywhere twice over at this point." Fuyuhiko drank from his bottle.
"Pass me some?" Kazuichi reached out to grab the container, he then cupped some water and washed his face.
"We don't have much time, we gotta figure this out. Where the hell would that bear be?"
"Who? Me?" a squeaky voice spoke.
"AHH!" all three boys jumped and fell off the bench.
"My, my, didn't think I'd ever get fans, let alone stalkers…" the bear had the gall to blush.
"Ugh…" Hajime was below the dogpile, "Could you guys get off?"
"Wait, I think I broke a bone there…" Kazuichi wheeze, "Fuyuhiko, get off!"
"Jesus, calm down! I will!" And so he did and both boys groaned. Kazuichi was next, then Hajime got up last.
"You boys done moaning on top of each other?" Monokuma said.
"Don't say it like that!" the pink-haired teen exclaimed.
"Upupupu, naughty you boys are…"
"Enough of this. Where the hell were you this whole time?" Fuyuhiko demanded.
"In the Robotics Lab, getting a massage and a tune up."
"How does a robot get a massage?" Kazuichi was certainly curious.
"How does a human not use their entire brain capacity? It's questions like these that we don't know the answer to."
"Yeah yeah, Oma said that you're the one that took the photos of me and Mahiru."
"Did that bastard snitch?" Pulling out a LMG out of… somewhere.
"Nah, he gave me one clue in total." Hajime clarified.
"Oh ok good." Putting the weapon inside… something. "I guess you scowered the entire school for yours truly."
"Yes we did and we couldn't find you. Not even in the lab you were supposedly in." the counselor accused.
"You just didn't look close enough!" the bear puffed.
"Anyways, could you not reveal my relationship with Mahiru?"
"Is that all?"
"Yes." he nodded.
"Wish granted." Monokuma kept a straight face.
"That's it? You're not tryna make me do some random bullshit to keep it a secret?"
"You want me to take back my words?"
"Nope!" making an X with his arms.
"Alright then, is that all you guys need? I got other stuff to do, I'm a teacher after all."
"Yep. You can go now." the mechanic immediately said.
"We're good." Fuyuhiko waved him off.
"Thanks for this." Hajime bowed.
"Anything for a student." was the last thing he said before departing.
"Didn't think he'd have mercy on us." Fuyuhiko crashed back down on the bench.
"Let's not think too hard on it, count our blessings y'know?" Kazuichi stretched his limbs.
"Let's get some shut eye, we damn well deserve some." the yakuza got up.
"Yeah, sleep sounds nice." Hajime walked towards the dorm building.
[-x-]
Hajime got back to his room and immediately plopped onto his bed.
"What a fucking day…" opening his handbook to check some news when...
"MAHIRU KOIZUMI AND HAJIME HINATA ARE DATING." blared from the intercom, accompanied by his E-Handbook getting a notification about a photo of them together.
"MAHIRU KOIZUMI AND HAJIME HINATA ARE DATING."
"Do you feel the despair now, Hinata-kun~? Upupupu." a final notification came.
[-x-]
"I hid for the rest of the night. And here we are."
Their underclassmen have already left the classroom, being so close to the first period bell ring.
"You mortal fiends had an entire escapade surrounding such a trivial revelation. What does your damaged soul foresee regarding this tale?" Gundham asked, topped with his usual boisterous charisma.
"Is that the true story?" Mahiru asked for confirmation.
"Sounds too convoluted for it not to be, plus it lines up with the announcement last night." Nagito reasoned.
The redhead then got closer to the boy, "Guess I went a bit too harsh of you there, Hajime." she grabbed his hands and caressed them. "Sorry for that."
"Whoa!" the local princess huffed. "Is this Koizumi-san's tsundere side coming out?"
"No it's not!" her face and hair began to have the same tint. "I'm always like this."
"I can guarantee you, you aren't Mahiru-nee." Hiyoko concurred with the other blonde.
"I thought you'd be on my side Hiyoko-chan!" she never felt more betrayed.
"It's not like it's bad, I quite like it." her boyfriend came to her rescue.
"Hinata-san, you dog~." the chef commented.
"Look at you being smooth, Hajime." Kazuichi had a shark-toothed grin on his face.
"Shut it." he retorted.
"The tsundere couple, who would've thought." Ibuki rubbed her chin in amusement.
"That ain't a bad trademark, honestly." Fuyuhiko, with his legs kicked up, said.
"THIS IS THE START OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL!" Nekomaru exclaimed without regard for anyone's hearing.
"We've been dating for a few months now so not exactly the start."
"Good morning everyone!" The door opened to reveal their teacher and their representative following closeby. "Go take your seats and I'll start roll call in a bit."
"Alright, before I say anything, let's congratulate the first couple of the class!" Everyone cheered and applauded to the embarrassment of the two for being outed.
"T-Thanks, everyone." Mahiru and Hajime expressed their gratitude.
"Me and Nanami-chan here were discussing a plan for a celebration party." she smacked the back cover of her notebook.
"Yep!" Chiaki affirmed, "We can either do the party at lunchtime or after classes. Which ones do you guys prefer?"
Most of the class agreed that it would be preferable with the extra time of the afternoon.
"Alright, then it's done!" Chisa slammed her podium, "Tsumiki-chan is here…"
[-x-]
Never trust Monokuma.
Happy late birthday to Mahiru! I honestly didn't know it was her b-day in the first place.
I wrote this to practice another perspective instead of being stuck in the same universe. Also having a bit of romantic undertones are certainly going to help me in the future. I didn't beta read this so if you spot an error, feel free to tell me and I'll fix em.
Another reason I wrote this is because I can't concentrate enough to write a chapter of VA. Seasonal allergies are an absolute pain in the ass and I'm still waiting for my dad to buy me pills ;-;.