There is a girl in Hinata Hajime's class who he's never spoken to. She has strawberry blonde hair that frames and curls around her face, and soft pink eyes that light with passion whenever she speaks of faraway or fictional lands, ancient myths, and old stories. From what Hinata can tell, she's also very fond of video games, since whenever he glances to the back of the class, she's playing one. She seems to be on a different handheld console every day, and Hinata's willing to bet she's got a dozen other consoles at home, plugged into various screens around her house. That would explain the dark shadows that lurk under her eyes and contrast perfectly with her pale skin.
She tags along with Sonia Nevermind and her little groups when she actually leaves the classroom, but usually she stays inside, her thumbs clicking rapidly and her face illuminated by an artificial glow. Even when she's with Sonia, she rarely speaks, her lips merely curling into a half-smile where Souda bursts into boisterous laughter. Every day Hinata vows to himself that he'll turn around and speak to her, say hi, maybe ask her to join him and Komaeda at break, and every day Hinata doesn't turn around and doesn't speak to her and takes his seat next to Komaeda, and he gives him this disappointed look, like he thought today would be the day Hinata actually spoke to the girl, even though that day never is.
He glances at the girl's desk again today, his gaze flicking up to meet those pink eyes as he does, and lingering too long, or at least long enough for the girl to look up from her game and notice, making a point of looking away. Komaeda sighs as Hinata sits down in the desk beside his, a sad smile lingering on his lips.
"If you don't say something to her soon, Hinata-kun, you'll miss your chance," he promises Hinata, turning to a fresh page in his work book, and beginning to note down what the teacher has written. The classroom is alive with the sound of loud, rowdy teenagers, all distracted from the work or trying to distract each other from their work. In the back right corner, furthest away from the teacher's desk, Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko makes angry noises that could be sentences to a focused Pekoyama Peko, who is both listening and completely ignoring him as she works. In the row in front of Hinata, Koizumi Mahiru cuts photographs into creative shapes and sticks them onto something Hinata can't see, while Saionji, who sits beside her, takes the cuttings that are leftover, and folds them into paper airplanes (the majority of which are shitty). In between mouthfuls of some sticky sweets, which Hinata can hear her chewing loudly, she throws these airplanes at Tsumiki Mikan in the front row. Owari and Nidai's voices are carried back from the front of the room, but not their words. Sonia and Gundam loudly deny being a couple when Hanamura asks about it, despite the fact it is plainly obvious they're holding hands under the desk. Paper meets pen several times over, and the same sequence of letters are scribbled down by different hands at different speeds in different scrawls.
Hinata knows that the girl's voice is not one of the many that echo through the room; it seldom is. Her soft voice isn't heard unless she is called upon for the answer, which she almost always is because the teacher never thinks she's paying attention, and yet somehow she almost always knows it. That realisation sinks in, and Hinata's grip on his pen tightens, along with his resolve. "I know," he tells Komaeda. "I'll say something to her soon."
He sighs again, sinking back into his seat. "I'm only suggesting you do it because I know how much you'll regret it if you don't," he reminds him, his tone soothing and motherly.
"Yeah, you've told me before," he nods.
He doesn't know why he wants to talk to the girl so badly. Maybe he just wants to give her a chance to speak about something that isn't science, mathematics, classical literature, or maybe he just wants to listen to her voice. He wonders what her laugh is like, since he's never heard it. He wonders how those eyes light up when she's smiling or laughing or enjoying herself.
The lesson carries on as it always does, with Souda and Gundam getting into an argument, Togami Buyukaya not turning up, Mioda loudly yelling and singing and Tsumiki politely asking her to stop, which is, as always, met with loud taunts from Saionji. Hinata doesn't care much for the book they're meant to be studying, and is well aware that he's falling behind on the workload purely because he can't be bothered to actually read it. Komaeda has been lending him his notes, but they both know that won't help him in an exam.
"Just thinking about reading two chapters of this per night is giving me a headache," he growls as he packs away his things at the end of the lesson.
"It's not that bad," Koizumi says, turning around from the desk in front of Hinata, smiling. "Once you get past the twelfth chapter, things really pick up!"
Beside her, Saionji groans before whispering, "They don't. They really don't. The entire thing is boring as hell."
Koizumi taps her lightly on the head with her copy of the book. From Saionji's left, Kuzuryuu mutters, "Honestly though, shooting yourself in the face is probably less painful than reading it," as he and Pekoyama push past on their way out for lunch.
"Well, I like it," Koizumi informs him stubbornly, turning to face him, scowling. Saionji nods in agreement (even though she doesn't agree) as she tries to shove food into her bag and her mouth so she can leave. Hinata notices that Nanami hasn't risen from her seat yet. His eyes meet Komaeda's, and his gaze seems to say; this is it. This is your chance.
The class begins to thin out as one by one the students leave. Hinata tucks his chair in and turns around to face the girl a few rows behind him. He navigates his way through the maze of seats and desks, until he's at the one in front of hers. He thinks about pulling out the chair, but then decides he wants to look cool and casual, so he leans back against the table, so he's kind of sitting on it but also kind of standing up. He can hear Komaeda stumbling through the desks behind him.
"Hi," Hinata says, finally, after closing his eyes and breathing in an attempt to control the rising panic in his chest. He licks his lips, worried for a second, but at the same time so unbelievably happy that he's finally introduced himself. He doesn't want the girl to know how long he's wanted this, but he's so happy that he's done it, because he's wanted it for so long. His beautiful, smart, genius of a brain tells him to keep the conversation going. "What are you playing?"
She doesn't even look up. "Danganronpa."
"Oh!" Komaeda is beside Hinata already. "I know that game! It's kind of like Ace Attorney meets Battle Royale, right?"
"Yep." Her eyes are still glued to the screen.
Hinata looks up at Komaeda, startled. Komaeda doesn't know anything about games. He narrows his eyes. "You don't know anything about games, Komaeda. How did you know that?"
Running a hand through his hair, Komaeda chuckles."Well, you and I watched Battle Royale together once, with Kuzuryuu, if you can remember back that far. And Mioda-san's always talking about games. I think she plays those one's with the teacher in them? You solve puzzles?"
The girl nods. "Professor Layton."
Komaeda smiles and nods. "Yeah, those ones."
Hinata continues to glare at him suspiciously. "I didn't know you've been talking to Mioda."
He shrugs. "We'll, we've been talking a lot recently and she's a very interesting person-"
"Yeah, I'm sure she is. Anyway," Hinata turns his attention back to the girl, "I'm Hinata Hajime." The girl nods, but doesn't look up from her game. Hinata notices a headphone dangling loose from one ear, and wonders how she got away with that all day. "Is this a bad time?" he asks.
"Not at all," she blinks a few times. "I'm just about to prove- Hang on, Machinegun Talk Battle ."
"Uh," Hinata looks up from her face to Komaeda's and then back down to her face again. "Machine guns?"
"It's probably a technical gamer term," Komaeda states, smiling in confusement.
The girl reaches towards her other headphone, and lifts it towards her ear. "Do you mind?"
Hinata shakes his head. "Not at all."
There's silence. Hinata and Komaeda look at each other for a while, and the girl concentrates on her game. Her thumb taps rapidly. The door clangs open again and Owari and Nidai return, clad in some form of sports uniform, complaining loudly. Hinata doesn't turn, but Komaeda considers himself everyone's friend, and so glances back.
"Everything alright, Owari-san?" Komaeda asks.
Owari throws her lunch onto her desk. "Yeah!" she shouts. "Yeah, there is something wrong! That damn 78th class are in the gym again, even though it's our turn!"
"Shouldn't you be able to get them to leave, then? I mean, if it's your turn in there."
She kicks her desk, fuming. "We tried that! Some wrestler chick and gang fighter are dueling in there! It's so lame! I mean, the old man challenged them to a fight but they think because we're younger, we're freak and fragile or something! It's stupid." Owari falls back into her chair, pulls out her lunch, and begins shoving it into her mouth. As she eats, she continues to cry, "We even got Mioda to try and pull us some strings, but all she ended up doing was talking to some dude with piercings about "punk rock" or whatever! Oh well," she says, suddenly perky, "at least we have more time to eat lunch now."
Nidai sighs and slips into his seat beside her. Hinata turns his attention back to the girl. She's staring at her screen with a mixture of horror, intrigue, sorrow and disgust. Her brows are furrowed, her eyes wide, and her lips trembling slightly. Then she sighs, closes her eyes and pulls her headphones outs. She licks her lips, then looks up, opening her eyes again. "Sorry about that," she says,"I was just watching the culprit get burnt alive... I think? She might have been hit by a truck. I'm not entirely sure... Hinata Hajime-kun, right?"
"Yeah..." Hinata nods, wondering just what the fuck her game is about.
She smiles. "I'm Nanami Chiaki."
Komaeda seems to realise at that point that they're introducing each other, and puts his hand up, loudly stating, "Komaeda Nagito!"
Nanami chuckles slightly, before asking, "Did you two want something?"
"No," Hinata shakes his head. "I just wanted to talk to you, I guess. Get to know you. You're always on your own and I kind of feel bad about it."
"You don't have to," Nanami is still smiling, but she looks distant, like she's focusing on something that isn't there, even though her eyes are fixed on Hinata. "I'm perfectly content-"
"I've been thinking about doing this for a long time," Hinata blurts out.
She nods. "I notice you glance back every now and again."
"Damn," Hinata mutters. "And I thought I'd been so subtle about it."
Komaeda shakes his head. "You weren't." This comment earnt him a sharp elbow to the stomach, and Hinata thinks he's hurt him, but Komaeda chuckles as he rubs his stomach and laughs,"Hinata-kun, that hurt!"
Nanami also smiles. "It was lovely meeting both of you, but I'd like to return to my game, if that's okay?"
Hinata's heart sinks, but he says, "Yeah. Yeah of course. What's your game about, actually?"
"I told you earlier," Komaeda states, but that just results in him getting elbowed again.
"You play as a student named Naegi Makoto and you are locked in a school for talented students and told if you want to get out, you have to kill someone," Nanami explains. "After every murder, there's a trial. You have to catch the culprit. The culprit is then executed."
"Oh," Hinata gulps. "That sounds... pleasant."
Komaeda shoots him a strange look. "Hinata-kun?"
"Yeah," Hinata nods. "Really fun. Really super fun. Super duper fun!"
Nanami's chuckling, and it's the sweetest little laugh Hinata has ever heard. "You can watch, if you like. You can borrow one of my headphones."
Hinata pulls up a seat beside her, and Komaeda says, "Can I watch too?" to which Nanami replies, of course, but he won't be able to hear the music or voice acting, and Komaeda says he doesn't mind because he can read perfectly fine, and as they play they talk and Hinata learns that Nanami doesn't live too far from Komaeda and himself and they make plans to walk home with her. She catches the same train they do. Komaeda laughs and talks about how lucky that is, and Nanami talks about the protagonist in her game being super lucky and wow, Komaeda-kun your voices is kind of like his, and Hinata-kun has hair like his too, what are the odds, and Hinata listens to their idle chatter and smiles to himself, because he knows Nanami will fit right into their tiny group, and he can feel it expanding into a trio already.
author's note: i edited an unfinished fic for another pairing to make this so if i ever upload a fic that exactly like this im sorry but im actually p proud of the original fic and if i finish it ill upload it (its for another fandom though so hopefully it wont matter that much im sorry)
im also sorry this is late ive been hella busy. we break up in a week though so maybe i can write more than one fic a day.
now id like to talk about spoilers. itd be really cool if you could all talk about how spoilt you are for the dr series (including dr0 and sdr2) because obviously id like to hint at certain things that happen in canon, but they are spoilers. and i dont want to spoil anyone . the thing about tagging some spoilers is that, unless i say "this is a spoiler", when you read it, you could think its just an au. so im conflicted. (like in the last chapter i wanted to mention the future foundation or w/e but thats a spoiler, and i might want to make references to deaths or executions, which i almost did but then didnt in this chapter, so it would really help me out if you guys want to help me develop a spoiler policy)
finally, thank you for reading this. last chapter this fic suddenly got a surge of interest, and i hope youll all continue to enjoy it. i enjoy all of your reviews and feedback, especially jj, who always leaves better endings to the fics than the ones ive come up with
thank you.