Hajime's POV

I pulled open the door of the arcade and immediately heard the jingle of a bell as I made my way in. I stood at the door and looked around the place for a second. I was amazed by how large the place was. The lightening in the place was dimmed with purple and pink lights shadowing over the place. There were numerous retro arcade machines who's screens glowed brightly in the dark - it reminded me of how you would wake up in the middle of the night and your tv was still on, glowing brightly in the dark and burning your eyes.

There weren't many people inside this place. I pulled out my phone to check the time- it was only 8:30pm. I started walking around the place in hopes to find Chiaki somewhere. It shouldn't be too hard since most of the people here were teenagers like us. It was kinda quite here, the only sound to be heard was the ringing of the arcade machines and the movement of joysticks, and occasionally you could a few aggressive button mashing action going on.

I tucked my hands into my pockets and I ended up walking across a bar with red cushioned stools. Behind the bar was a waitress who sat down a tall glass of strawberry milkshake - decorated with whipped cream and a classic cherry on top. The girl who happily accepted this shake was no one other than Chiaki Nanami.

"Thank you" I heard her say in her soft voice.

I made my way over to the bar and took a seat in the stool right next to Chiaki. She looked up at me and smiled calmly. She took one last sip of her shake before saying "You made it, I'm so glad."

I smiled and chuckled a little before the waitress reached me a menu. I kindly accepted the menu and I was shocked to see the various choices this place had. Burgers, nachos, pizza. The more I looked the more indecisive I became. Finally I decided to keep it simple and I ordered myself a cheeseburger. The waitress smiled brightly and took the menu back and promised she'll be back soon with my order.

"Do you come here often?" I asked Nanami.

"Yeah, I usually come here after school. I like to play a couple of games before heading home to do any homework. It really clears my mind from a stressful day."

"I see..." Suddenly a plate of burgers and fries, along with some soda sat in front of me. I thanked the waitress and I dug into the plate immediately.

"I'm sorry I asked you to come here so sudden today, I've been wanting to do this for a while" Chiaki stated.

"O-oh no it's fine, I think I really needed to get out for a while anyways..." My mind started to trail off elsewhere. I looked around the place then I stared down into my lap. Chiaki watched me the whole time, I'm pretty sure she noticed how off I were.

What was really bothering me tonight was that (Y/N) couldn't be here. Before walking into the arcade, I checked my phone for any messages sent by her but there was none. Then earlier she was acting all weird and ran off during lunch today. I'm genuinely concerned by what happened.

"Hajime" Chiaki brought me back to reality.

"Sorry... um were you saying something?" I asked Chiaki hesitantly. Chiaki pouted and looked at me sternly. She then stared at the counter and looked back at me saying "Is it (Y/N)?"

My face immediately turned red and I looked down at my plate of food. That's the thing I like about Nanami, she's always so observant. Maybe a little too observant.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked in a low voice.

"A little...I noticed how you were acting earlier today."

"I just wish she could've been here today" I said with a sigh.

Chiaki seemed a little saddened by this. She then pressed the issue furtherby saying "Is that really the only thing that's bothering you?"

I looked up from my plate and looked at Chiaki with surprise.

"Do you like her?" She asked in a low voice.

"I...I just want what's best for her."

There was silence between Chiaki and I. She then asked "Is that why you want a talent Hajime? Because of her?"

I immediately shook my head. "No, having a talent has always been my priority. Getting into Hopes Peak has always been my priority. Just...meeting (Y/N) made me realize that I need to try a little harder. Ever since I met her, I feel like it's hard to fully be myself. There's just something about her that's...different? Well, whatever it is - she doesn't deserve a talentless nobody to drag her down."

"Hajime, you have to stop talking down on yourself-"

"But it's true-"

"It's not! Remember what I said earlier. You have choice. You have the ability to create whatever you want for yourself."

I sighed softly and looked at the ground.

"I envy her though. Nobody knows what her talent is yet she was still accepted into the school. How? Why? Yet she's so nice to me...I don't deserve it."

Chiaki then stood up from her stool. And to my surprise, she hugged me. Her arms wrapped around my neck tightly and my head was buried in the nape of her neck. I felt my eyes start to fill with tears. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around Chiaki, before fully accepting her embrace all at once. Chiaki smiled and rubbed my back gently.

"Quit fighting yourself Hajime. Accept hope. Accept yourself. I'm sure she accepts you too."

A single tear rolled down my face and I could feel my heart pounding, my face was hot. Chiaki then told me "Remember, if you really want to get into the school - go speak with the headmaster. Maybe you'll be able to prove yourself to him."

I took her words carefully and a nodded to myself.

I grabbed my phone and saw that the time was almost 9:30pm. The only thing I had on my mind was seeing (Y/N).

"I'm sorry we couldn't play anything tonight Chiaki. I promise, next time we'll play whatever you want. I just...I have to go check on her."

Chiaki gave me a warm smile and shook her head understandingly.

"Go Hajime"

And with that, I jumped up from the stool and I made my way over to (Y/N)'s.

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It didn't take me long to arrive at (Y/N)'s house. I stood outside her door, staring at the frame. The lights were on, so she's probably still awake, either studying or watching a movie. After some time, I finally found the courage to knock on her door.

I could hear the latch of the door being unlocked and the door slowly opened with ease. On the other side of the door was the girl I felt as if I was falling in love with. She stood barefoot right in front of me in nothing but her night clothes. Her hair was damp, indicating that she most likely just finished taking a shower. And then I heard her soft voice say:

"Hajime, are you just going to stand there or did you want to come in?"

I then felt something bounce off my forehead. I looked in her hands and noticed the bag of chips dangling between her fingers. She giggled softly and I smiled looking into her eyes.

"Can I come in?" I asked kindly.

(Y/N) stepped aside, giving me enough room to squeeze by and then...

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(Y/N) POV

As I closed the door gently behind me, Hajime wrapped his arms around me. My back was pressed against the door and he held me tightly - hugging me into the doorframe. His body seemed tense and he gradually relaxed as I hugged him back gently.

I didn't know what to say, I just stood there on my toes, hugging Hajime for what seemed like an eternity. Finally we both pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. I could feel my face getting hot as he gazed into my eyes.

"U-um...Hajime is something wrong?"

His face then relaxed and he smiled and kinda chuckled under his breath "No I'm fine...I was just worried about you that's all."

"Worried about me? Why?"

"You ran off earlier today at lunch, you've never done that before so I couldn't help but to be concerned."

"I told you I had to meet up with my teacher! No need to be worried Haji"

I led Hajime to the kitchen and without asking, I started making us both a cup of milk and tea. On the counter lied a plate of muffins that I had baked after school today.

"Want one?" I asked Hajime. He shook his head no and stated that he had already ate beforehand. I grabbed myself one blueberry muffin and sat both of our teas down in front of us at the kitchen table.

"(Y/N) I will always be worried about you. I mean I was even worried the time you came late to school remember? The morning we weren't able to walk with each other?"

My face became red with embarrassment.

"Yeah yeah no need to bring up the past" I said teasingly.

"But really, why did you run off earlier?"

"I...well you were talking with Nanami and I-" before I could continue, Hajime interrupted me.

"You're not use to other people being around right?"

My face became red and I bit my lip.

"I'm sorry" I said in a low voice.

"No need to be" Hajime said reassuringly.

I knew that I wasn't telling the full truth. When I walked up earlier and saw how close Chiaki was to Hajime, something inside me didn't feel right. Not to be yandere or whatever but, I don't like seeing Hajime that close to any other girl. What would happen if he became close to Chiaki? Would he stop talking to me? Does he find her more interesting? I'd be right back to where I was before, alone with absolutely no one wanting to be my friend because of the whole talent situation surrounding me.

"You don't need to be so shy because I'll always be there to make you comfortable okay, (Y/N)?"

I nodded my head and took Hajime's words in.

'Always' I thought to myself.

I'll always be there for you too, Hajime.