Once Chiaki was tucked into her hammock, Hajime started making breakfast for natsumi. Natsumi stared at Hajime with intense eyes.
"So...are you feeling better?" Hajime asked.
"It's been an eye opening experience" natsumi said," but I'm not sure if it makes my journey easier or harder"
"Is it about the-" Hajime tried to say only for natsumi to interrupt him.
"It's about Chiaki" natsumi said," I want to know what will happen when nanamis heart is restored"
"I...don't know" Hajime said.
"LIAR!" Natsumi yelled," tell me the truth"
"I don't know what you're talking about" Hajime said.
As soon as he said that, Natsumi slapped him across the face.
"Tell me the truth or I'll slap you again" natsumi said in rage.
"Do you want the truth?" Hajime asked.
"Yes, now tell me!" Natsumi demanded.
"Fine, I'll tell you" Hajime sighed," if nanamis heart is fully restored then it is likely that chiaki will disappear"
Natsumi could barely contain the anger within herself after hearing the truth.
"Bastard" natsumi said as tears formed in her eyes," why...why does it have to be like this?"
"We can't afford to let nanamis pure heart remain shattered" Hajime said.
"Shut up with your damn excuses" natsumi said," you're essentially killing her"
"I'm aware of what I'm doing" Hajime said," but I don't have a choice"
"You're full of shit" natsumi said," What happened to make you do this?"
"I became a nobody" Hajime said.
"What?" Natsumi asked.
"I said I became a nobody" Hajime spoke louder.
"How?" Natsumi asked.
"I'm sorry, but I need to sleep" Hajime said," I promise I'll tell you"
"Fine" natsumi said.
"If Chiaki wakes up before me, please don't tell her about what we discussed" Hajime said," for chiakis sake"
"Sure" natsumi sighed.
...
As Hajime slept he dreamed of his past. The truth was, the reserve knights was a failure as shown by the countless reserve knights that turned into hopeless. So many lives were lost in that stupid project. At least Hajime had a friend amongst all those pitiful souls.
"Hey chin up" natsumi would always say," the royal family doesn't recruit sad slugs"
Some days he could get by, but the royal castle always seemed to overshadow the reserve knights building. A few times, he had been brave enough to sneak a look into the royal garden and spot princess Nanami tending the flowers. Nanami was always so radiant and soft like the moon. Sure Hajime only met her once, but ever since that encounter she had remained in his heart. A lot of people loved Nanami for how beautiful she was, but Hajime loved her most for her beautiful heart. He wished so desperately to become her knight, but destiny was not his ally.
"I'm sorry, but you're heart is too weak to become a knight" Tengan said.
"Is there anything I can do?" Hajime asked.
"There isn't" Tengan said," just live your life and forget about becoming a knight"
"But I have to become a knight" Hajime said.
"You shouldn't fear normalcy" Tengan said.
Maybe he should have listened to Tengans advice, but what else could he do? He wasn't talented or special, so would he just live like an ordinary person. Just when he was about to give up, he remembered her words.
"If I believe it, it will come true" Hajime said to himself," then I have to believe I can become a knight".
What a foolish idea.
...
Chiaki yawned as she opened her eyes to see natsumi looking rather sad.
"Is something wrong" Chiaki asked.
"Oh Chiaki you're awake" natsumi said," I was just worried for you"
"Where's Hajime?" Chiaki asked.
"He's taking a nap" natsumi said.
"Are you feeling better?" Chiaki asked.
"Yeah, I just have some things to think about" natsumi said," here, why don't you have some breakfast"
"Okay" Chiaki nodded.
As chiaki ate, natsumi couldn't help looking at her.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your brother" Chiaki said," but I think we'll find a way to fix it"
"Thanks Chiaki" natsumi said," but do you think collecting the heart fragments will fix things"
"Based on what I know, a lot of people loved Nanami, including your brother" Chiaki said," if she returns then she'll know what to do...I think. Why do you ask?"
"Like I said, there's a lot of stuff on my mind" natsumi said.
"If you need to talk I'm here" Chiaki said.
"Thanks. I think I can work this out on my own" natsumi said.
"Okay" Chiaki nodded.
...
Eventually Hajime woke up, however he was in a bit of a cold sweat.
"Hajime you're awake" Chiaki said.
"I'm glad to see you're awake as well" Hajime said.
Hajime looked towards natsumi only for her to look away from him.
"Hey Chiaki, could you locate the next heart fragment, please?" Hajime asked, causing natsumi to bite her lip.
"I can do that" Chiaki said as she summoned her keyblade and located the next heart fragment.
"Lets see, the next world is the world of fog" Hajime explained after looking at the map.
"What's fog?" Chiaki asked.
"It's like the clouds, but on the ground" Hajime explained," so it'll be hard to see when we get there".
"I could use my fire to light the way" Chiaki offered.
"That's a great idea" Hajime said," I'll set the sails"
...
As soon as they got in range of the destined world, they were surrounded by fog. Chiaki tried blowing the fog away with a gust of wind from her keyblade. However, as soon as the fog dispersed, new fog came and took its place.
"Try using fire" Hajime suggested.
Chiaki summoned forth her a few fireballs to lighten the way to the nearest dock. Fortunately, they were able to dock safely. Using an old fashioned lamp, Hajime captured one of chiakis flames in it and created a transportable light.
"It's still really foggy" Hajime said as he pulled out some rope," so just to be safe, let's tie rope to each other so we can't get separated".
"Sure whatever" natsumi said before tying a length of rope around her waist.
"That makes sense" Chiaki said before grabbing a piece of rope and just wrapping it around her waist.
"Here, I'll show you how to tie it" natsumi said.
"Are you sure?" Chiaki asked.
"Yeah, peko taught me a great trick for tying knots, so I'll show you" natsumi explained.
Once everyone was set, the trio entered the foggy island.
...
The world of fog was very difficult to see, but they could find a few things. Dead black trees littered the land and looked like broken human figures from a distance. Even though the sun was shining, the fog remained thick and unyielding to clarity. Due to the lack of light, no blade of grass grew.
As chiaki walked she couldn't help but notice some sort of unspoken feeling between Hajime and natsumi, but she didn't know how to define it. They walked until they saw a faint light in the distance. At first it seemed to be a heart fragment, but then the light started rushing towards them. Chiaki and the others jumped out of the oncoming lights way. Soon enough the light came to them, revealing it to be the glowing horn of a unicorn hopeless. Despite its unicorn biology, the hopeless had the monotone patterns of a zebra. A purple heart insignia rested on the unicorn hopelesses fore head above its crimson eyes.
The unicorn hopelesses horn brightened the area allowing the trio to untie themselves and prepared to fight. Natsumi was ready to toss her spear right into the unicorn hopeless, but Chiaki stepped forward without any sign of hostility. Chiaki reached out her hand to the unicorn hopeless only for it to kick its head and raise its front legs. Before the unicorn hopeless could trample Chiaki, Hajime pushed her out of the way.
"I don't think that's going to work" Hajime said.
"I have to get closer..I think" Chiaki said.
"Natsumis got your back" natsumi said as she lassoed the rope she had.
Natsumi tossed the rope around the unicorn hopelesses neck and pulled it to the ground. The unicorn retaliated by kicking its legs and creating shards of ice. Using his keyblade, Hajime summoned a force field to protect him and chiaki while natsumi spun her spear around to shatter the ice. Once the small blizzard of ice shards passed, Hajime used the remaining rope tie down the unicorn hopelesses back legs. With the unicorn hopeless incapacitated, Chiaki was able to reach her hand out to it.
"Please, don't panic" Chiaki said as she laid a hand onto the unicorn hopelesses face," I want to help you".
Chiaki stroked the unicorn hopelesses forehead as she stared into its red eyes full of despair. As she did, a bright soothing light emanated from the heart insignia. The unicorn hopeless devolved into shadow, freeing the hearts inside. Among the freed hearts, one heart rose above the others and entered chiakis keyblade.
"Thank you for helping me" Chiaki said.
"Sure" natsumi said," but how did you know to do that?"
"I don't know" Chiaki said," it just came to me"
"We should probably get the heart fragment before it gets dark" Hajime said.
"Okay" Chiaki nodded while natsumi stayed silent.
Together the trio walked through the fog until they spotted a soft light in the distance. When they reached the light it was shinning in the hollow trunk of a big dead tree. Chiaki grasped the the heart fragment and held it up to her chest. It's light glowed so softly and warm in her hands as she accepted it.
...
"Guess what guys? I made you some charms for when you travel"
Cool they look like stars.
"Yep, Mikan supplied the crystals so I fixed them to look like stars for you all"
They shine so beautifully just like the stars they are based on.
"I'm glad you like them, because I want you to hold onto them as a symbol of our friendship that glows as uniquely as a star"
You are too kind for words.
"I love you all so much for being there for me"
Don't worry we'll always be by your side.
"Thank you everyone"
...
Back on the ship, Hajime tucked Chiaki into her hammock. All the while, natsumi glared at him. Hajime responded by pulling up a chair.
"Now I'll tell you how I became a nobody" Hajime said
