Danganronpa – A Story of Growth and Love

Chapter 6.5 – Ultimate Attraction – Continued

Note: Here is the wrap up for chapter 6. I had a lot of fun with writing this whole thing and I really hope you like it too!

(Hajime's POV)

As I opened the door, I was face to face with Chiaki. I was surprised, since she told me that she was hanging out with Mahiru and Sonia today. Maybe they wrapped up early or something? Whatever the case, this just meant I could tell Chiaki how I felt about her sooner, rather than later. I still can't believe I was oblivious of my feelings for her up until a few days ago.

A Few Days Ago…

I finished another day of lessons with Ms. Yukizome, and they were pretty easy as per usual. I decided to head back to dorm for the day since Chiaki had to catch up on some work, so I decided to take care of my homework. After a quick walk, I made it back to the dorms. But when I was about to head to my room, I heard a familiar voice call my name. "Hey, Hajime!"

I turned around and saw Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko walking towards me. "Hey guys, what are you up to?" I asked.

Kazuichi walked up to me and said, "Well, we wanted you to hang out with us. You seem like a nice guy, so we thought you wouldn't mind."

I didn't have any other plans besides finishing my work, so I decided to take them up on their offer. "Sure," I said, "I don't mind hanging out with you guys."

"Great," Fuyuhiko said, "Why don't we head over to the dining hall? It's pretty empty at this time of day, so it should be a bit quiet."

"Let's go then." I responded.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the dining hall and sat down at one of their empty tables. Looking around the place, Fuyuhiko was right, the dining hall was pretty empty. If anything, no should be around to interrupt our conversations. I looked back at Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi, and asked, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, you see," Kazuichi started, "we needed your help with something."

"My help?" I asked, "What do you need help with, is it the latest assignment or something?"

"Not that dumbass!" Fuyuhiko said angrily. He then shook his head and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. To be honest, we need some advice and you seemed to be the best person to ask."

"What sort of advice exactly?" I asked.

"We need some advice on the best way to confess to girl." Kazuichi said nervously.

I certainly wasn't expecting that. "Uh, quick question; why would I be the best person to ask for that topic?" I asked.

"Well," Kazuichi started, "You seemed to be the guy to ask because you already have a girlfriend."

If I was drinking anything at that moment, I would've spit out in shock. "What do you mean by that Kazuichi!?"

"Wait," Fuyuhiko said, "You mean you aren't dating Chiaki? With the amount of time you two spend together, we thought you two were a thing."

"It's fine." I said, "But why did you think that Chiaki and I were dating?"

"Sheesh, maybe we should be the ones helping you man!" Kazuichi said. "You seriously haven't noticed anything different about Chiaki when you're hanging out?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"For starters, she seems to very happy whenever you two hang out, and from what I heard, she says your one of the few people to ever tie her in a video game." Kazuichi said. "You really haven't been noticing any of that?"

Before I could respond, Fuyuhiko said, "Damn, he doesn't even realize he's already head over heels for her."

I felt my face turn red from that comment. While I tried to think of any sort of comeback, Fuyuhiko continued and said, "You really haven't felt any different around her, or noticed anything about her in particular?"

"I…I, uh…," I stuttered. As my mind was trying to put together some sort of coherent response, I realized that Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi were probably right. Thinking back on it, I have noticed that whenever Chiaki and I are hanging out, her mood always seems to be brighter. Once I realized that, I also started to realize just how cute she really was. From her cute smile, to her pink eyes, I realized that I didn't just like her, I was in love. Defeated, I held my head in my hands and looked down at the table. I had no idea on what to do.

"So," Kazuichi asked, "finally ready to admit it Hajime?"

"Alright, alright," I said, "you guys are right. I have a crush in Chiaki."

"At least you admitted it," Fuyuhiko said, "so what are you going to do about it?"

"Yeah man, are you gonna tell her what?" Kazuichi asked excitedly.

I thought for moment before responding. If I tell Chiaki how I really felt about her, one of two things could happen. The first thing that could happen is that my confession might make things awkward between us, which I didn't want. But if things went well and she felt the same way, then our relationship would only improve from there. I weighed both sides in my head, and realized that I should take a chance and tell her how I felt.

I looked up at my friends, with a look of confidence on my face and said, "Yeah, I think will tell her I feel. Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko, thank you helping me realize my feelings."

"No problem Hajime, Kazuichi said, "after all, bros help each other out right?"

I got up to leave, before I remembered the what brought up our conversation in the first place. "Oh yeah, you two wanted some advice on confessing right? Who do you like?"

Fuyuhiko shook his head and laughed. "Don't worry about us right now." He spoke.

"Yeah dude, Kazuichi continued, "right now you should prepare yourself. And hey, if you need a pep talk right before you confess, were here for you man."

After receiving their votes of confidence, I decided to head back to my room to prepare myself. As I left the dining hall, I thought I saw two people nearby, but maybe it was just my imagination.

Present Day:

Chiaki and I just stood there, staring at each other for a moment. I had thought out so many different ways of telling her how felt about her, but my mind was drawing a blank. I started to feel worried, and I hoped it wasn't seen on my face. I was finally about to say something, when Chiaki beat me to the punch. She smiled as she said, "It's good to see you Hajime."

"It's good to see you to Chiaki." I responded.

"Hey," she said, "you aren't busy at the moment, are you? I wanted to talk to you about some things."

"I'm not busy at the moment." I said, "I actually wanted to talk with you about something to."

"Really? That's great!" Chiaki said happily. "Do you think we can talk at our usual spot?"

"Of course, I'd like that Chiaki." I said kindly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? C'mon let's go!" she said.

Chiaki motioned me to follow her, and within a few minutes, we were at our usual spot; the fountain at the academy. I remember that whenever hung out, we always came here to play video games. Thinking back on things, I couldn't think of a better place to confess to her. We sat down on one of the benches near the fountain, and almost on instinct, Chiaki got out her Game Girl console and booted up her favorite racing game, the same one we played the day we met. She looked up at me, about to ask a question, when I got out my console, the same one she gave me when we first met. With my wordless answer, she smiled at me, and we got to playing a few rounds. Sometimes, actions tend to speak louder than words, this being one of those cases.

We played about five rounds, and oddly enough, we tied every round. I know my skills have been getting better, but something felt off. I looked over at Chiaki, and I saw that she was shaking a bit. Was she upset that we tied so much, or was it something else? Before I could ask what was wrong, she looked up at me and said, "I have something I want to tell you Hajime."

"What is it Chiaki?" I asked.

"(Deep breath, exhales) When I first arrived at Hope's Peak, I honestly thought things would be pretty boring around here. I mean sure, this school is full of ultimate students of any talent you could think of, but I wasn't sure I would really connect with anyone here. That is, until I met you."

I blushed as she said that, and I saw her cheeks go pink as she said that. "Thanks to you Hajime," she continued, "I was able to make a connection to someone here, and because of that, I was able to make so many friends like Sonia, Kazuichi, Mahiru, and so many more. You really helped me with lots of things, so thank you for that."

"I'm glad I could help you Chiaki." I said happily.

"But," she said, "recently, I've been feeling something strange in my chest whenever I'm near you. My heart rate goes up and I feel my face go red. I was worried that something was wrong with me, so I asked Sonia and Mahiru for advice. With their help, I was able to figure one thing out.

She took a deep breath, looked up into my eyes, and said "I really like you Hajime. I'm always so happy whenever were together, whether were doing schoolwork or playing games. I just know that I want to continue to be with you."

"She likes me…, she really likes me!' I thought. I was so happy that she felt the same way. My worries from before vanished right then and there, since know I could tell her how I felt without any regret.

After a few seconds of silence, Chiaki looked at me and asked, "Uh, Hajime? Is everything alright? If you don't feel the same way about me, it's ok…" I interrupted Chiaki as I wrapped my arms around held her close to me. Her face turned red, as I felt the heat rise to my own.

I looked down at her, smiled, and said, "I'm glad you told your true feelings Chiaki, and you don't have to worry, I feel the same way about you. Since I was transferred into the Ultimate part of Hope's Peak, I was worried that I would stick out since I didn't have an ultimate ability. But since I met you, I learned that there's more to life than having a talent. You helped me feel like I belonged with everyone, and I will always be grateful for that. After some time, I realized that my feelings for you were more than that of a friend. I really like you too Chiaki, and I would love to be by your side."

By the time I finished speaking, Chiaki had some happy tears going down her face. As I wiped the tears from her eyes, she closed the gap and kissed me on the lips. I was surprised at first, but I slowly eased into the kiss and held her closer to me. A few minutes later, we parted to get some air, and were looking into each other's eyes with smiles on our faces.

"I did that right…, I think?" Chiaki said.

"What, the kiss?" I asked.

She nodded, and I then said, "I'm sure we got it right. Then again, it was my first one."

"Same here." Chiaki responded. "Besides, if we messed up, we could always practice right?"

I laughed at her response, which caused Chiaki to start giggling, as I pulled her in for another kiss. After a bit more practice, we decided to head back to the dorms, since it was getting late. As we walked back, I held onto Chiaki's hand, which caused her smile and blush. I was so happy that my confession was a success, and I already knew that Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko would be asking me how things went between me and Chiaki, with Chiaki having to do the same with Sonia and Mahiru. I just know that no matter what the future may hold in store for us, we'll get through it together.

Note: That concludes this chapter! I really like the ending I wrote and I hope you like it too. I'm sorry that I haven't been as frequent with chapters like before, my professors have really been hammering down on assignments. I'll try and have some new chapters up as soon as I can. Thank you so much for reading my work, since it really helps motivate to write more. The next few chapters will have us looking into the stories of Shuichi and Kaede, and I'm really looking forward to that and I hope you are too!