I am not a Robot:
Chapter one: Protection
Nanami continued to play a game on one of her portable consoles as she sat on one of the motorcycles out the front of the bike store that Souda and his family owned. She normally stayed at Souda's house as it was convenient. Souda's father hardly came back until late in the night and left early in the morning, so there was never any need to actually hide. But Nanami knew one thing – if Souda and his father did come into contact with one another because of her, there would be some trouble. After all, he did always talk about how much he hated him.
Nanami usually just waited outside the shop and guarded the fort until either Souda or Fujisaki came back from wherever they would go for most of the day. Though, it's not like anyone would really steal anything from the shop – no one even walked near it.
Nanami let out a small yawn and turned off her console and waited until she saw Souda and Fujisaki walking towards her, talking to each-other. Though, every afternoon would have the same routine, especially with Souda...
Souda turned to face her and his face brightened. "Chiaki...!" He had practically leaped at her and picked her up with ease spinning her around. He had also gone to the liberty to calling her by her first name. Nanami just stared at him with a bored expression until she was put back down onto the ground.
"Wha-! Souda-kun, be careful!" Fujisaki told him as he finally caught up.
Souda blinked and quickly bowed. "S-Sorry! My bad! You haven't got any scratches or-?"
"I'm fine, Souda..." Nanami replied with a small sigh.
Souda looked at her, slightly hurt. "Uh, Chiaki...I thought that we agreed on just calling me Kazuichi, didn't we...?"
Nanami just yawned. "I'm sleepy..." She said.
Souda slowly walked over to a corner and kneeled down, playing around with something on the ground. Fujisaki was secretly hoping that he wasn't starting to squash ants like Saionji does...
"What are you doing, Souda...?" He asked, worried about his answer.
"I'm building a hamster home..." Souda muttered sadly.
Fujisaki tilted his head. "But, shouldn't Tanaka-sempai be the one to build one...?" He asked innocently.
Souda just mumbled something under his breath; most likely he's trash-talking Tanaka and his Four Dark Gods of Destruction. Nanami and Fujisaki just looked at each-other and shrugged their shoulders. Fujisaki looked back at Souda.
"Souda-kun, didn't you want to talk to Chiaki about something...?" He asked. Souda quickly stood up and ran back towards the two.
"That's right!" Souda said, nodding, a smile now glued back onto his face. "We can go inside and talk about it over some coke!"
The three of them walked inside the shop and Souda threw his schoolbag on the ground and took out some cans of coke that he had just bought as Fujisaki carefully placed his schoolbag next to him on the couch. The three of them sat down on the couch, Souda fiddling around with his fingers and Fujisaki staring at the ground.
Nanami just stared at the two, waiting. She could've been playing a game or sleeping, but instead, she was involved in an awkward conversation.
"S-So..." Souda began as Nanami blinked at him in confusion. "Um, Fujisaki and I decided to think it over and um...even though I sort of think it's still kind of a bad idea..."
Fujisaki looked back up at Nanami. "We thought it would be good if we took the next step and bring you with us to school..." He said as he gave a small smile.
Nanami stared at the two of them. "School...?" She asked. "You mean, the same place where you two decided to-?"
"Yeah!" Souda said. "But, I have already prepared a list of what you shouldn't do."
Nanami tilted her head. "Souda, I already know the basics of school rules..." She told him. "I learned enough from the game-"
"Ah! But you haven't heard my list of rules! Here, read!" Souda interrupted as he shoved a small piece of paper into Nanami's hands – well, it looked small, but it quickly unfolded and managed to touch the ground. Nanami squinted as she tried to read the mechanic's messy hand-writing.
"Do not talk to strangers, don't do drugs, no drinking alcohol, don't let anyone..." Nanami trailed off, falling asleep through reading.
"Chiaki, come on! Wake up!" Souda yelled. "Man, and after carefully spending a whole three nights coming up with this..."
Nanami woke up with a yawn. "Souda, if I may say so, these 'rules' are just basic common sense...Alter Ego already explained all of this to me..."
"Uh...is that so...?" Souda asked, laughing awkwardly.
Nanami nodded. "And besides, weren't you a stranger when we met...?" She asked, Souda freezing up.
"Uh...come again...?" Souda asked.
Nanami didn't seem to notice Souda's reaction and continued. "And I talked to you, so should I stop talking to you?"
Souda stepped back. "H-Hell no! We're not strangers anymore, okay! So you can keep talking to me!"
Fujisaki stood up, looking as if he wanted to stop the confusion. "Well, um...the main point of this is so then Chiaki can make new friends...so she would have to talk to others..."
"Well, yeah...but-!"
"Souda, about rule seven-" Nanami began.
"Ah! That was a mistake! It was for something else actually..." Souda screamed as he waved his arms in the air.
Nanami sighed. "But, how did you get me in...? I mean, without a-"
"Oh! Well, Fujisaki pulled some strings!" Souda answered, now smiling as he cracked open a can of coke. "Let's just say that he knows people..."
"So, am I going to be in the same class as the two of you...?" Nanami asked.
"No, unfortunately we are in different grades...and Souda insisted on you two being in the same class and I didn't want to hurt his feelings..." Fujisaki replied.
"D-Don't make me sound desperate!" Souda yelled in embarrassment.
Nanami smiled sweetly. "Thank you, both of you..." She said genuinely. "This is as great as that one time when I beat the final boss on Final Fan-"
Souda quickly covered her mouth. "Shh...!" He said, his eyes darting around. "They could be listening...!"
"Well, I guess you get the point..." Nanami said as Souda removed his hand away from her mouth. "This should be fun! But...I'm not sure how good I'll be..."
"Nah, it'll be easy...!" Souda reassured. "Just think of it as one of your games..."
Nanami thought about it for a second. "Well, just as long as it isn't a dating simulator...I suppose I'll be okay..."
"Yeah! You will be!" Souda added. "After all, rule seventeen strictly states that-!"
"So, when do I start...?" Nanami asked.
"Hey! You didn't listen to me!" Souda yelled.
"Attention! This is our new transfer student!" The teacher at the front announced and then looked at Nanami who stood at the front, writing her name on the board. "Please, introduce yourself."
Nanami turned around and bowed. "My name is Nanami Chiaki – Super Duper High-School Level Gamer. It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you. Now, Nanami has only been home-schooled up until now, so please, don't go trying anything...and I'm not just talking about physical abuse – I'm talking to you, Hanamura!" The teacher said. "Please, take an empty seat."
Nanami did as instructed and took a seat next to a boy with wild white hair and green eyes – much to Souda's disappointment – and tried her best to stay awake during class. Every so often, she would get a soft poke from the boy next to her if she began to doze off. She reminded herself to thank the boy later, even though she would've loved to be playing her copy of a new game that she was so close to completely than learning about ancient history...
Once the bell rang, everyone stood up and began to do their own thing. Nanami looked around for the white-haired boy who had gone missing until she spotted him standing next to the window, staring outside.
Nanami took a deep breath and walked over to the boy – noticing that up close, he was considerably taller than her. She stood there for a moment, trying to think of what to say. Though, it must've taken too long as the boy noticed her, just staring at him.
"Yes, Nanami-San?" The boy asked with a smile.
"Thank you for keeping me awake for that lesson..." She said simply.
The boy blinked and then let out a quiet laugh. "Well, on the first day you're here, you're already thanking me of all people...I can't say that I'm disappointed, but it was really nothing..."
Nanami blinked. "Um...so, what's your talent...?"
Nanami remembered how she was taught to learn things about people before truly becoming friends with them. And, with Hope's Peak Academy being the school for the talented, there were most likely going to be a lot of things to talk about.
The boy looked at the ground and mumbled something that Nanami couldn't quite hear. The boy looked back at her, noticing her confusion and scratched the back of his neck.
"Um...well, it's pretty lame, but...I'm the Lucky student..."
Luckily, Fujisaki told her in advance about the 'Lucky students'. Every year there would be a drawing to decide which ordinary person would be able to attend Hope's Peak. Nanami got the point.
"Ah, I see...so, you're like the main character of a game..." Nanami said.
"Huh...?" The luckster asked.
"Well, think about it. There is a group of totally interesting characters surrounding you and you are the ordinary one of the group. This happens a lot in role-play games, like in Corpse-"
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm ordinary..." The Lucky boy said. "Ah, how rude of me! My name is Komaeda Nagito, nice to meet you..."
"Nice to meet you too Komaeda...do you like running over zombies with a wheelchair...?" Nanami asked.
Komaeda smiled. "Well, I can't say that I've run over them with a wheelchair, but I have played some zombie games where I have run over them with a car..."
"Do you like classic or modern games...?"
"Well, I haven't actually played that many of the classics, but I do enjoy a game of Russian Roulette...is that what you meant...?"
Nanami stared at Komaeda, trying not to show her surprise. "Not really..."
Komaeda shrugged. "Are you trying to get to know me...?" He asked.
Nanami nodded. "Well, other than Chihiro and Souda, I need someone else to talk to..."
Komaeda looked back at the desk where Souda was sitting, bashing his head repeatedly against the surface, and then looked back at Nanami. "Well...I guess I can see why..."
Before another awkward pause came around, Komaeda spoke again. "Say, why don't I introduce you to the others...? It would be a lot easier if you knew some good people."
Nanami thought that there was some hidden meaning behind what he meant by 'good people', but decided to leave it be as she nodded. "That would be great. Of course, Souda has already told me all about-"
"Sonia Nevermind, right?" Komaeda finished.
"How did you-?"
"He has a plain as day crush on her, of course he would tell you about her."
Suddenly, Nanami was grabbed by her wrist and dragged into the hallway faster than the blue hedgehog on one of her games – though, it would be pointless trying to say the title as it would somehow be interrupted. When she was let go of, Souda was staring at her intensely.
"Not with him!" Souda shouted. "Anyone but him!"
Nanami sighed. Of course, Souda had to criticise again. She got tired of a lot, but this was getting ridiculous.
"Okay, why?" She asked curiously.
"Because, he is dangerous!" Souda exclaimed. "I would trust Kuzuryuu over him any day!"
Now, Nanami couldn't quite understand what he was talking about as she zoned out through the entire lecture of her classmates, but she still wanted to at least do something without Souda constantly telling her what to do.
"Souda, I understand that you're looking after me, but please understand that the whole point of me being here is so that I can meet new people and know how to deal with situations myself." Nanami said, trying to put it as nicely as possible.
Souda's eye twitched as he folded his arms. "Well, can't I just tell you a little about-?"
"So, do you know everything there is to know about him...?" Nanami asked.
"Huh?" Souda asked, caught slightly off-guard.
"His birthday, what elementary school he went to, if his hair colour is natural, if he prefers boxers or briefs...you know, basic information that can tell me that you know him as well as you think you do..." Nanami explained.
"I know enough, Chiaki! I know that he can't be trusted and-!"
"Souda, please..." Nanami interrupted. "I can find out what kind of person he is by myself. If you tell me something, then it's like using a GameShark...there's no effort..."
"But that's what I'm trying to say...!" Souda shouted, getting louder. If this conversation continued any further, they would cause a scene, and that would've been the last thing that Nanami needs on her first day. "If you let me explain and-!"
"Souda," Nanami said as she turned around. "Thank you, but I don't think it would be fair to use a cheat code, especially outside of a game..."
Souda was practically fuming. At this point, Nanami would give the match to Souda and admit defeat and let him have his way, but she knew that it wouldn't be fair on Komaeda, especially since she has only known him for the day...
"Fine! I don't care, anymore! You can go and get damaged for life because of that guy for all I care! But don't come crying to me, because I'll just say that I told you so!" Souda stormed off through the halls after his speech, muttering under his breath, most likely cursing. Nanami didn't let it bother her too much though. When they had their disagreements, they usually went back to their usually relationship within an hour or so. And besides, Souda did always tell her to stick up for herself, so really, she is listening to him...just not in the way he thought she would...
She walked back into the classroom and over to Komaeda, who was still waiting for her with a smile. She thought that it felt rather comforting...
"Is everything okay...?" He asked in a concerned voice. "I heard Souda yelling...nothing happened, right...?"
Nanami smiled back at him. "It's okay. We just had different opinions on something..."
The gamer felt a sudden tug on her collar and turned around to see a hamster on a shoulder, looking as if it were inspecting her. She carefully grabbed it and held the small creature in the palms of both of her hands in front of her.
"A hamster...?" Nanami asked herself, confused. How the little guy managed to climb the stairs all the way up to the third floor by itself was beyond her...
Komaeda chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you...Tanaka does this to everyone..." He explained.
Nanami blinked. "Tanaka...?" She asked.
Komaeda nodded. "Yup. He's-!"
The hamster jumped out of Nanami's hands and quickly scurried off to an intimidating – even more so than Souda – young man who looked like an anti-hero of her games. He was dressed in dark colours and had one black and one red eye along with a scar across his black eye. And emerging from his purple scarf were three more hamsters...though, looking at him, Nanami knew that she had heard of someone with this description before...
"-right there..." Komaeda finished.
"...I think Souda talked about him before..." Nanami said in thought.
Komaeda shrugged. "That's because they don't get along...they're mortal enemies..."
Suddenly, Tanaka began to laugh maniacally, and it was at this moment that Nanami realized that he is just like an anti-hero. All four hamsters were sitting on his shoulders, looking as if they too, were laughing.
"You foul human...! Your dare say that I, the great Tanaka Gundham, am one your kind? Ha! You mortal beings are truly deluded if you think that I am a puny mortal like you! You shouldn't even try to compare us!" Tanaka said with a large grin. It was either that he was really into role-playing, or he actually thought that he was another kind...Nanami decided to make a mental note on this guy...don't get him talking and expect him to stop...
Komaeda laughed nervously. "My mistake, Tanaka...my apologies..."
"Hm...that mistake shall be your last, I presume...! Otherwise my Dark Gods of Destruction will vanquish you and banish you from the world of the living...!" Tanaka said, sounding quite proud of himself.
"Well, Nanami-San, this is Tanaka Gundham, as you probably guessed from his speech just now...but, what you probably didn't know is that he is the Super Duper High-School Level Breeder..." Komaeda explained.
"..."
"..."
"...Oh really...?" Nanami asked.
Komaeda looked as if he were expecting a bigger reaction, but he didn't say anything about that.
"Girl from the Heavens," Tanaka spoke. Nanami presumed that it wasn't a compliment and just saying that she was a goodie-two-shoes. "What beast of destruction do you control..."
"..."
Komaeda just looked at her. "Do you have any pets...?"
Nanami tilted her head in thought. "Well, I have a Tamagotchi...does that count...?"
Tanaka looked as if he didn't even know what a Tamagotchi was, so she took it as a no...
"What about my dog?" Nanami asked. "It's a Beagle named Sparky..."
"You have a dog, Nanami-San?" Komaeda asked.
"Yeah, I go to the park and enter him in competitions..." Nanami said with a nod. "...Well, a virtual dog anyway..."
The conversation wasn't really going anywhere...Nanami could name a million pets she has in her games, but the closest thing she has to a pet in real life would be the rats in Souda's garage...and she wasn't too fond of them, either...so in the end, Tanaka just walked off, muttering something about her being 'unworthy', or something along those lines...
"Want to meet everyone else?" Komaeda asked, getting right to the point.
Nanami nodded. Being with Komaeda was definitely different to being with Souda. Souda would ramble where Komaeda gets straight to the point in an unbiased way. So, it was a nice change of pace...
But, the two didn't need to move as someone walked up to them. A young, sophisticated-looking woman with long, blond hair – but not much more needs to be said. Nanami knew from the mechanic's rambling, who this young lady was.
"Excuse me for the intrusion," The taller lady said with a slight bow. "But I wanted to introduce myself as I have not done already...my name is Sonia Nevermind, it's a pleasure..." She smiled.
"You too..." Nanami replied. "You must be our Princess, right?"
"Yes, that is correct...but, I must ask, where did you obtain this knowledge?" Sonia asked.
"Um...Souda-"
Sonia's face darkened at the name of the mechanic. "Of course he did..." Nanami didn't expect this reaction. Though, she put two and two together to conclude that Souda was filling in the stories with some lies...
"By the way, speaking of which..." Sonia continued. "I heard Souda yelling in the hall...are you okay, Nanami...?"
Nanami nodded. "It's nothing really...it happens quite a bit..."
Sonia's eyes widened. "Are you perhaps...childhood friends...?"
"Erm...no, we met this year..." Nanami explained. "We met because of my...cousin..."
"Oh. I see...perhaps that will grant me more space, though; I didn't think that it should be at the expense of others..." Sonia said as she stared at the ground, rubbing her forearm.
Nanami shook her head. "It's okay...he's nice when you get to know him...just a little...clingy..." She explained.
"Well, I was just making sure that you were alright...and to introduce each-other, of course..." Sonia told her.
"Thank you for your concern." Nanami replied.
"Did somebody say 'introductions'...?" A girl with multi-coloured hair asked loudly as she rushed over to Nanami. "Well, here's everyone's favourite Band Member! Mioda Ibuki!" The girl held out a 'peace' sign and a large smile glued onto her face.
"Woo-hoo! So, you're the new student here, huh? Ibuki declares that a party should be thrown in celebration! Ibuki could sing live!" Mioda said excitedly.
"Um...I think that just being in the same class as you, Mioda, is enough of a party..." Komaeda said.
"Well, it still wouldn't be fair...Ibuki hasn't performed in a while..." Mioda said as she scratched her head in thought.
"That's because you had the amplifier too loud and we've been getting complaints from people in the surrounding buildings..." Komaeda mumbled.
"Nanami-Chan! Would you like Ibuki to throw you a party sometime soon...?" Mioda asked, grabbing onto both of Nanami's hands.
"Well, I have never had a party before..." Nanami admitted as she stared at the ground.
"WHA?!" Mioda gasped dramatically. "Then that is just that much more of reason for Ibuki to throw a party!"
"Did somebody say 'party'? That means that there's going to be food, right? I'm in!" A brunette said with a large grin. "Of course that party is going to be for..."
"..."
"Nun-chucks?"
"Owari, it's Nanami Chiaki." Komaeda corrected.
"Oh! Right!" Owari said. "I knew that..."
"Just make sure that there's a bathroom! There's nothing worse for a man than not being able to shit..." A bulky guy said a bit too openly.
"And all the dishes will be prepared by myself...naturally..." A shorter boy in a chef uniform said with a smile. "Maybe Nanami will be able to entertain me with all of my hard work...!"
Nanami tilted her head. "Entertain...? We could play multi-player games, I suppose..."
"Uh...that's not-!" Komaeda began.
"Oh! Multi-player!" The chef began laughing uncontrollably. "I never took you for that type, Nanami...!"
"Well, it's not as fun to do it by yourself..." Nanami explained, not getting the chef's drift.
The chef now had a bleeding nose. "Whoa! I never thought you tried it before...! And by yourself...! Well, you are getting into the stage...!"
"Komaeda, is the 'stage' a secret level in a game I don't know about...?" Nanami asked the lucky student.
Komaeda looked a little uncomfortable with answering the question. "Um...he's not talking about a video game..." He managed to say.
This confused the gamer further. "...Then is it a board game...?" She asked.
"Um..." Komaeda scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Ah! Nanami-San, here we have Mioda Ibuki – Super Duper High-School Level Band Member..."
"Hiyo!" Mioda said enthusiastically.
"Owari Akane – Super Duper High-School Level Gymnist..."
"Is it...'No-Tatami-Mat'?" Owari asked, still trying to remember Nanami's name. Nanami just shook her head.
"Nidai Nekomaru – Super Duper High-School Level Team Manager..."
"Shit...now I need to shit..." Nidai grunted as he ran off.
"And..." Komaeda paused for a moment. "Hanamura Teruteru – Super Duper High-School Level Cook..."
"It's 'chef', actually..." Hanamura corrected. "Call me 'chef', won't you Nanami...?"
"Um...okay..." Nanami answered.
"Gosh, don't you have any manners, Hanamura...?" A red-haired girl asked as she walked up with her arms folded. "She just came today, and you're already harassing her...you men..."
"Something told me that you would show up, Koizumi..." Komaeda told her.
"Yeah, well...someone needs to be the voice of reason around here, and it sure isn't going to be most of the guys here...most." Koizumi replied.
It was this moment that Nanami noticed the camera that Koizumi had hanging from a strap.
"You must be a photographer..." Nanami said.
Koizumi nodded. "That's right! My name is Koizumi Mahiru...it's nice to meet you, Nanami..." She said politely.
"Same here." Nanami replied.
"Come on, stubborn !" A childish voice squeaked. Nanami looked around to see a short, blond girl in a kimono playing around with something on the window-sill. Nanami walked over curiously to see that there was a bunch of ant guts everywhere.
"Where did all of these ants come from...?" Nanami asked no-one in particular.
The girl laughed. "There's a hole in the corner of the window... can get in easy this way...!"
Nanami couldn't take her eyes off of all of the dead ants. She prayed that someone would clean it up. But the main thought she had was that...it was gross...
"You'd think that for such a great school they wouldn't let a hole get passed them..." The young girl's expression changed. "What a bunch of idiots!"
"Are you playing a game...?" Nanami asked.
The girl stopped pressing her finger against the tortured ant and thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure if it's a game, but they make a great sound if you press them in the right place!" She explained.
'I'm pretty sure that's the sound of death...' Nanami thought to herself.
"Hey, you're some big-shot gamer, right? Then how about we see who can squish the most !" The girl suggested.
"...I don't know..." Nanami said in thought. She knew that Fujisaki didn't like killing things, so she shouldn't either. Even if it's an ant and it looks fun...
"I wouldn't if I were you! You'll become as much of a psychopath as she is!" A boy with short blonde hair said with a grin. In Nanami's first impression of him, he didn't look that much of a threat. What, with that baby-
"Oh shut up, shortie!" The girl yelled.
"What did you call me?" The boy yelled back.
"Didn't you hear me? Or did all of your brain-cells diminish?" The girl retorted.
"You are shorter than me, you midget!" The boy shouted. "So, you have no right to say anything about my size, you little bitch!"
"P-Please..." A girl with long black hair pleaded with the two. "W-We shouldn't argue with each-other with-"
"Shut the hell up, bitch!" The blond yelled. Nanami was surprised at how quickly this arguing excelled after everyone was just talking about throwing a party...and the blond-haired girl's foul mouth...
"Wha-I'm sorry!" The black-haired girl apologized as she began to cry.
"You don't call her a bitch!" The boy yelled. "That's my job!"
"No, your job is being a baby-face wimp!" The blond yelled.
"What-?" The boy began to growl as everyone took a step back. "What did you call me...?"
"A baby-face wimp!" The girl repeated.
The boy sent her a death glare which actually looked intimidating as he rolled up his sleeves. "You are going down, bitch!"
"Do it! Baby-face!" The girl pushed.
A young woman with silver hair in two braids step in between the two smaller students. The boy stopped immediately.
"Peko-!"
The girl looked from the girl to the boy and continued that for a while until she spoke up. "Excuse me for interrupting, but I believe that you two should cease this petty bickering at once...you only have one first impression per person and that was it. It takes a long time to build up trust and it's easy to break...so please, stop before I have to use force..."
The boy just sighed. "Whatever..." He said and walked off without another word.
The woman walked over to Nanami carefully and bowed. "I apologize for that display..." She said.
"It's okay..." Nanami replied.
"My name is Pekoyama Peko...I'm the school's swordswoman...I hope that I didn't make a bad impression for my rudeness as well..." Pekoyama introduced.
"No, it's fine." Nanami noticed that the girl in the kimono had walked off next to the photographer talking. She most likely got bored of killing ants...
"Those two bicker like children over a toy..." Pekoyama said. "The girl in the kimono in our Super Duper High-School Level Traditional Dancer – Saionji Hiyoko...She is definitely not what you expect at a first glance..."
Nanami nodded. "And who was the boy...?" She asked.
Pekoyama seemed to get a sparkle in her eye as she answered. "He is the Super Duper High-School Level Yakuza...his name is Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko...just promise you don't do anything hasty..."
"...Okay..." Nanami replied.
"But also...be kind to him...if he looks lonely, he most likely is and wants to talk to someone..." Pekoyama explained.
"Sure thing." Nanami said.
"U-Um..." A soft voice behind Nanami stuttered. Nanami turned around to see the girl who was crying earlier. "M-My name is T-Tsumiki Mikan...I'm the S-Super Duper High-School L-Level Nurse...please don't...hate...me...!"
"Well," Nanami began until she was cut off by the girl crying.
"I hate myself...!" The girl cried.
Nanami became worried. She wasn't good with people crying...so, she just had to ask the question.
"What's wrong...?"
"I-I-I...I messed up...m-my-my introduction...!" Tsumiki explained, still crying.
Nanami sighed. She didn't like seeing people crying, but this is where she usually messes up in her games. But something is off...
"Tsumiki," Nanami began.
"Y-Yes...?" Tsumiki asked.
"Aren't there supposed to be more people in this class...?" Nanami questioned.
"W-Well, two others are supposed to be here..." Tsumiki answered as she fiddled with her fingers. "But, one of them are always somewhere else in the school...b-but he's always a different person, s-so..."
"Different person...?" Nanami asked.
"What she means is that they are an imposter..." Komaeda continued as he walked up to the two.
"What do you mean 'imposter'?" Nanami asked.
"That's his talent...they can impose as anyone...they mostly study by themself somewhere else..." Komaeda explained.
"What about the other student...?" Nanami asked.
Komaeda shook his head. "No one knows...people are saying that he died..."
Nanami's eyes widened. Someone dying at that age...it made her chest hurt...
"He was here for a few days and vanished..." Komaeda said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say any of this...I really hate the mention of death...there's a chance he could've just moved to another school! I'm making this sound like a mystery anime..."
Nanami tried to let it go through the day, but she knew that there was more to the story...perhaps, Komaeda didn't actually know much more than she did, but the mention of death in a school is frightening...she would probably talk to Fujisaki about it later...
As the day progressed, she noticed Souda was actually listening in class, which surprised her, but he looked as if he couldn't wait to get out of school.
As soon as the final bell rang Souda ran out, even though he said that he was going to wait for both her and Fujisaki and they could walk back together. Nanami just shrugged it off and guessed that he would wait outside for them.
When she walked out, Nanami spotted Fujisaki patiently waiting just outside the school for her. Nanami smiled and made her way over as Fujisaki noticed her.
"Hey, Chiaki," Fujisaki said with a smile. "So, how was it today...?"
Nanami thought about it for a moment. "Well, some of the people in my class are a little energetic, but they're also nice people...I think..." She answered as she folded her arms.
Fujisaki nodded. "Well, as long as you had fun...well, we better get going..."
Nanami tilted her head in confusion. "What about Souda...? Isn't he walking back with us...?"
Fujisaki frowned as he looked down at the ground. "He said that he had some important stuff to work on back at the shop...though, I'm not sure if that's the case or not..."
Nanami blinked as she also gave a frown. She thought that Souda would've been over it by now...he normally would've been...she thought that she had worked Souda out by this point in time, but she figured that she made a mistake in trying to read him...
"Well, let's just see what he's doing when we get back to the shop." Nanami suggested as the two began walking.
Fujisaki continued to stare at the ground for a moment until he looked back up at Nanami. He stared, trying to figure out what was going on. He just hoped that nothing happened between the two...after all, Souda had promised not to do anything stupid and ruin Nanami's day.
He thought about asking about it, but figured that it wouldn't do any good. In the end, he decided to just leave it be and hoped that the problem worked itself out eventually – hopefully, that 'eventually' would be pretty soon. He wasn't too good with two close friends arguing with each-other. That happened enough at the beginning of the year with Oowada and Ishimaru...
Author's Notes:
Yes! It's done at last! I was so excited to write this after I got so many reviews on the prologue and just went a little crazy with the word count...! But, maybe I'll aim for all chapters to be this long to get me back into the writing muse...
It was so much fun to write all of the different characters! I think that out of all of the characters, Tanaka-San was the most fun to write! Oh! And Kuzuryuu of course! And for some reason, it was easy to write Hanamura...heh, me and my strange mind...
Now, I know that Hinata isn't here yet, but he should be in here by the next chapter! If not, the chapter after that!
Tell me how I could improve or just how you feel so far by reviewing! It's easy! If I could get such a large response like in the last chapter that would be great!
And to the reviewers from the first chapter, I'll quickly summarize the answers for your questions and comments here:
Thank you for telling me about the characters! I was so happy to know that Souda was written well! Though, he might act out of character some parts throughout the story because of Nanami. You guys also seem to like the idea of this, so that was great! And this IS going to be a Nanami/Hinata story. It might not have seemed that way at first, but those three are just friends...and to Luckenhaft, thanks for making me laugh from your review! Glad to know that you also watch NicoB and those Hope Bagels!
Also thanks to the people who gave this story a favourite and a follow. Just remember to keep on doing that and to also review, as they give me motivation to update faster and work harder on the chapters!
(Geez, could I have made these notes any longer...?)