I am not a Robot:
Chapter six: Bad Luck
Nanami stared at the ahoge-wearer with a raised brow as he looked upon the class. She wondered what exactly went on in his head to go to class. She didn't mean any offence by it; it was just that it was rather soon to do so. His attitude towards others wasn't really what you would call 'good'.
"I'll make this quick as you have probably heard the same introduction enough times in your life." Hajime began as he folded his arms. "My name is Hajime. No need for honorifics or anything like that. Just Hajime. Don't ask about my talent, you don't need to know."
Everyone stared at him curiously at his unique introduction. It was very blunt. But everyone got the picture.
Hajime glowered as he noticed the vacant seat. The one seat it had to be. Wonderful. Next to the guy who had the name of a beverage. Nevertheless, he walked over and sat next to him silently. He and Nanami both knew how this would end, but Nanami reminded herself to talk to him about it later.
For some reason, the class went by rather slowly. Nanami could practically feel the tension between the two behind her. But at least the lesson was over before they tried to kill each-other.
"Chiaki!" Souda complained as he ran straight over to her. "You didn't tell me that this guy was going to be in the same class as us!" He yelled as he pointed at Hajime, who was right next to him.
Nanami pouted at how unfair the conversation was, considering that Souda thought that she and Hajime shared everything together. "Souda, I honestly had no idea...I don't think that's fair..."
"Yes, please don't make such idiotic assumptions. You sound like a failed attorney..." Hajime concurred.
"What was that...?" Souda asked angrily.
Hajime sighed. "I knew that you were an idiot, but I didn't think that you were deaf too. Tell me, how does someone such as yourself handle that much?" He asked.
Nanami quickly stepped in between the two before the room would be covered in crimson. "I don't think that fighting is a good idea. Souda has repairs this afternoon, and I don't want him to lose any money if he were to get an injury..." She stated.
Souda's eyebrow twitched. "Are you saying that I'll lose...?" He asked in annoyance.
Nanami heard Komaeda let out a small, soft chuckle. "Is it normal for people to argue this much over you, Nanami-San?" He asked with a smile.
Nanami faced him. "I wouldn't say that it's over me, Souda's attitude and Hajime's just doesn't mix well..." She replied.
"If you say so..." Komaeda said with the smile still planted on his face.
"Hajime, this is Komaeda Nagito. He is our year's Lucky Student." Nanami explained, as Hajime just gave the white-haired boy a bored look.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell us your talent Hajime-kun?" Komaeda asked, smiling.
Hajime narrowed his eyes. "I told you all not to do two things and yet you do them both anyway...are you all like this...?" He asked in displeasure.
"Ah, sorry, sorry..." Komaeda apologized. "I didn't mean anything by it. I sometimes just can't help my curiosity..."
Hajime shook his head. "Unless you're someone who is going to die soon, I don't plan on telling you." He stated.
"Ah, well...You never know when someone is to die soon..." Komaeda replied before looking at the ground. "It happens, I guess..."
Nanami wasn't quite sure if she saw something else in his eyes as he said that. Was it sadness? Regret? She didn't know. She decided not to press further with this. He would tell her when he's ready. If he ever told her...
"Pardon the intrusion," A familiar, formal voice apologized, Souda having a huge grin on his face. So of course it was Sonia. "But I do believe that we should all introduce ourselves to Hajime."
"Yeah! Yeah!" Mioda screamed as she ran up. "Ibuki wants to know his secrets to his hair. Oh! Is Hajime wearing Contacts? How is his whites so white?"
Hajime visibly grimaced. "Please refrain from asking so many questions..." He told the band member.
Mioda pouted and started poking Hajime's cheeks. "Aw...! Come on Hajime-Chan! Please...!"
Hajime's patience was increasingly slipping away. He couldn't handle losing anymore brain-cells due to certain idiots.
Suddenly, Mioda stopped poking him. "Ah! Ibuki remembers now! We have to throw two parties! That's like...way more parties than one!"
"Wow...you are so dim-witted that you make the mechanic seem smart..." Hajime mumbled.
"Hey!" Souda shouted, offence obviously taken.
"Kyahahaha!" Saionji laughed loudly. "I like this guy, he actually knows what's what around here. Can't say that for the rest of you bugs...! Not including Big-Sis Mahiru, of course."
Mahiru sighed. "Why can't we just have a normal, kind of quiet class...?" She asked.
"Kehehehe...!" Tanaka chuckled. "If not for all of their unmatched chatter, the Gods wouldn't be amused and would have to destroy all of you mortals...!"
"Kyaaaa!" Tsumiki squeaked. "P-P-Please no!"
"Say, Mr. Hajime...!" Hanamura began. "What kind of 'dish' do you prefer...?"
"I'm not even going to answer that..." Hajime muttered under his breath, slightly disgusted by the not-so-subtle question.
"Come on, Hank! Fight me! Fight me!" Oowari shouted.
"It's Hajime." Hajime grunted.
"Really?" Oowari asked, pausing for a moment. "Fight me! Fight me!"
"Akane!" Nidai began. "He will need the proper training first.
Most of the people in the room began chattering loudly. Hajime was confused and annoyed at the same time. This was everyone introducing themselves...? He suddenly didn't want to think about how wild the party would be if this was just an introduction...
Suddenly, someone else shouted. "Everyone, shut the hell up you dumbasses!" It was Kuzuryuu. He looked as though he couldn't handle much more of the noise either. At least someone knew how to tell people to be quiet...
"Don't you people know how to keep those mouths of yours closed? Do you want me to help you with that, because I will gladly staple them shut!" He warned.
Pekoyama cleared her throat. "What Kuzuryuu means to say is that you are making Hajime feel uncomfortable...this is not how a first impression should be like...we should learn how to get it right just once..." She explained.
Everyone remained quiet as the two spoke. It would've had to be the most quiet it had ever been since Nanami first arrived. She would have to thank Pekoyama and Kuzuryuu for that later...
From that point on, everything went along smoothly. Everyone introduced themselves in a 'calmer' way. As calm as they could be anyway...and Hajime seemed to look better. Nanami could've sworn that she had seen a curve of his lips for a split second.
As everyone made their conversations and were practically surrounding the poor guy, Nanami noticed Komaeda heading for the door. She walked behind him, concerned.
"Nagito, are you okay? Where are you going?" She asked.
Komaeda turned to face her, when he did so, Nanami noticed how pale he looked – even more so than usual – and he looked as if he hadn't slept in a while either. Even though she noticed all of this, he was still smiling. "Ah...yeah..." He replied softly. "I just don't like noisy places too much. That's all..."
Nanami blinked as he exited the room in confusion. She wondered why he did that. Did he catch a cold...? She didn't understand all of the symptoms to a cold, but, he did have a strange aura about him...
"Hajime-Chan! Can I give you a nickname?" Mioda asked, breaking Nanami out of her train of thought.
"Go away...!" Hajime gasped as he was pulled into a headlock by Oowari.
"You need more muscle, man!" Oowari told him, not showing any signs of letting him go. Nanami glanced over at Souda who looked like he was enjoying Hajime's pain. That, or he's still smiling about Sonia...
She sighed. "What to do...?" She asked herself.
"Tsumiki, can I ask you something?" Nanami asked as she walked up to the young nurse.
"Kya! U-Um…yes…! I-I mean…s-sorry…" The eggplant-haired girl replied, sobbing.
Nanami blinked, unsure of what she was crying for, but decided not to ask. "I was wondering if you noticed something..."
The nurse wiped her tears away from her face, though some stayed in the corner or her eyes, threatening to crawl back down her face. "Noticed...something...?" She asked, confused.
Nanami decided to be a little more specific this time around with her question for Tsumiki. "I noticed it. It's about Nagito. He left early..." She told her.
Tsumiki looked as if she now understood what the gamer was saying. "O-Oh...well, maybe he w-went to the nurse's office...or perhaps even..." She trailed off.
Nanami tilted her head. "Or...?" She said expectantly.
Tsumiki looked really nervous – more so than usual – but still proceeded. "Well, since everyone already knows about it...I-I guess it's okay." She paused for a moment before explaining. "There is a chance that he went to the h-hospital..."
Nanami was caught slightly off guard by this statement. She knew that her friend wasn't looking too well, but to have to go to the hospital? She didn't know what to think about that. Instead, she just smiled in thanks to the nurse.
"Thank you, Tsumiki." She said with a slight bow. Tsumiki looked as if she was going to cry with happiness for some reason, but Nanami still didn't completely understand her.
"ARGH! Just shut up!" Nanami turned around to see that the two 'rivals' were at it again.
"If you ask me, the one who needs to do that would be you. You're worse than a child who didn't get what they want for Christmas." Hajime replied to the mechanic.
"HUH?" Souda screamed.
"Ooh! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Oowari chanted.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Mioda chanted.
"Yeah! Beat each-other up!" Saionji encouraged.
"No, please don't fight!" Koizumi ordered. "Geez, don't you boys have any common sense, or were you raised under a rock?"
"Kehehe...! May the Gods strike the loser dead!" Tanaka exclaimed. "Which means, the pink-haired one shall write his will in his own blood...!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Souda shouted.
"Didn't I already say not to fight?" Koizumi repeated.
Nanami sighed and quietly made her way out of the room – well, tried – but she was stopped.
"Chiaki! Tell this guy to stop acting like a total ass!" Souda told the now involved gamer.
"If anyone is the ass it's you..." Hajime muttered.
"Stop using my own words against me!" Souda yelled.
"Can I leave now...?" Nanami asked.
"Who's going to stop you? The mechanic? He wouldn't even be able to scare a fly. The fly would probably scare him away now that I think about it..." Hajime insulted.
"Hm..." Nanami hummed in thought. "True."
"DON'T AGREE WITH HIM!" Souda screamed in shock.
"But just the other day you-"
"S-Stop!"
Nanami pouted. She couldn't believe how opposite the two boys were. It's like comparing a rabbit to a bear – they're nothing alike. At that moment, she decided that it was in her best interest to leave, quickly mumbling a 'goodbye' to everyone before running off – well, more like speed-walking off.
When she arrived at the hospital, she instantly noticed a weird smell in the air. She already decided that she didn't like it. It was a good thing that her games didn't include smell-o-vision, otherwise she would've probably malfunctioned a long time ago. She wondered how Tsumiki could be a nurse with all of the strange smells.
She walked up to the reception desk while taking a look around. She could see signs telling people to put a mask on if they had any flu-like symptoms and other signs about needles and such. Not to mention all of the people who were sitting in chairs waiting – nothing that screamed 'emergency', but they all looked like they were here for a reason.
"Hello there," The woman at the desk said to Nanami with a small smile. "What can I assist you with today?"
Nanami gave a small nod. "Actually, I heard that I could find my friend here. Is this true?" She asked.
The woman blinked. "Who might it be that you're looking for?" She answered the question with a question.
"His name is Nagito Komaeda. Is he here?" Nanami asked, tilting her head.
The woman instantly gave off a reaction that she knew the name when she heard it. Her face said it all. It told Nanami that she was shocked. Nanami couldn't figure out why though. It was a simple question.
"Well?" Nanami asked again.
The woman snapped out of her temporary trance. "Ah, yes, yes. Komaeda, right!" She replied.
"What's wrong with that?"
The woman shook her head. "Well, it's just that...for all the times that boy comes here, I don't think that he..." She paused. "Never mind...you can find his room up at 2-3. But please be delicate with him..."
Nanami stared at the woman in thought for a moment before moving up to go see Komaeda. She didn't exactly know what that lady meant by 'delicate', but she decided not to dig too deep into everything. When she got to the room she took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Not too long after, she heard a faint 'come in' from the other side. She did as instructed and closed the door behind her after entering.
She didn't know if it was just the sunlight shining through the curtains or not, but Komaeda looked even paler than before. She stared at the white-haired boy for a moment in confusion. She didn't understand why he was here in a bed where unwell people normally lay in. She didn't understand why he was here in the building at all. It was after a moment's silence until Komaeda finally looked at her, a look of surprise on his face.
"Oh, Nanami-San...my bad, I thought it was one of the nurses coming in." The boy apologized. "I wouldn't have ignored you if I knew. Sorry."
Nanami shook her head. "No, it's fine. No need to apologize." She told him. "I just came to see how you were is all..."
Komaeda blinked and then gave a weak smile. "Ah, you didn't have to do that. I'm fine." He told her.
"..."
"Really, it's fine. This is nothing. I-"
"Then why are you in here?" Nanami interrupted, making Komaeda shut his mouth. "You wouldn't be in here if you were fine. So, why are you here then?" She asked.
Komaeda sighed as he sat up, hunching over slightly. "Well, because every once in a while, everyone needs to go to the hospital. You probably didn't catch many colds because you were home-schooled a lot of the time, so this is probably new to you. It's normal, Nanami-San. No need to worry about anything." He explained, still smiling.
Nanami stared at him in thought. "But, you look different..." She mentioned.
"Haha...that's probably just my bed hair..." Komaeda laughed.
Nanami once again shook her head, narrowing her eyebrows. "No, not like that. You...I don't really get it, but there's something wrong..."
Now it was Komaeda's turn to shake his head. "Nothing's wrong. I promise. Where there's good luck, there's bound to be some bad, right?" He explained. "It's completely normal."
"You're lying..." Nanami mumbled before walking away.
"Uh, Nanami-San?" Komaeda began.
Nanami stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Thanks for coming here to visit, especially since it's out of your way and all..." He told her. Nanami looked at him from the corner of her eye for a moment to see that smile of his again – his genuine smile.
"Bye." She said before walking out of the room, unsure of what else to say. How could she? She had never been prepared for this. It was bad enough that she found out that he was in the hospital, but with him lying right to her like that with a smile on his face was too much. It was wrong. It was cruel.
"Ah, now Monaca is curious...!" A little girl's voice squeaked, interested. Nanami turned to face the source. The girl's green hair could easily grab anyone's attention, but also...the wheelchair could do the job just as well.
"What do you mean?" Nanami asked at the somewhat...different girl.
"Naw...you came out of Mr. Komaeda's room, didn't you?" The girl said with a chipper tone. "Yup, you can't refute Monaca on that, she saw you."
Nanami wondered if the girl was referring to herself when she spoke of 'Monoka'. She supposed it couldn't hurt to ask about it.
"So...you're name's Monaca, I'm guessing...?" Nanami asked carefully.
"Yup! Monaca's name is Monaca." She replied.
"So...Monaca, what is it that you were saying before about Nagito?" Nanami asked curiously.
Monaca tilted her head. "Oh? So you two are already on a first-name basis? Monaca is surprised. Monaca didn't think that he had it in him." She smiled.
"Yes, but what were you saying? You said you were curious...why was that?" Nanami repeated.
"Hm...well, Monaca just thought that he had no friends...the only people who go into room 2-3 is Mr. Komaeda and the nurses. No one else goes in there. Monaca never thought of him as a people-person. But then again, Monaca never liked him in the first place!" She said with a smile. "Big sis and Mr. Komaeda aren't really on good terms...but, shh...don't tell big sis...!"
Nanami couldn't tell if this girl was as innocent as she seemed or if all of that was an act. And whether or not to trust what she says is an even bigger question. But, she figured that it was best if she didn't stay in the hospital for much longer, it wouldn't be good on her mental state if she did so. So she quickly said goodbye to Monaca without waiting for a response so then she could go home.
When she arrived, she was greeted by an oil and grease covered Souda, smiling and showing the gamer his shark teeth.
"Hey Chiaki!" He greeted before leaning closer in. "And just so you know, I totally beat that weird-haired jerk in that argument…!" He added.
Nanami would've normally continued this conversation, but wanted the answer to the most pressing issue on her mind. So, she gave Souda a serious look. "Souda, why do people get sick?"
Souda was slightly taken aback by this sudden question. "Uh…why do you want to know something like that? I mean, human sicknesses don't really affect you, so-?"
"Just answer the question please, Souda…" Nanami interrupted.
Souda was taken aback by the gamer and paused for a moment. "Uh...I guess that it's just a natural thing really...like how some things are contagious – like the stomach flu. It's just something that happens. It can't be helped, really..." He answered.
"Oh..." Nanami simply said.
Souda walked over to her, unsure. "Ah hey, Chiaki...what brought this on? I mean, you never worried about things too much, so...what's the deal?" He asked.
Nanami looked at the floor for a moment in thought, unsure if she should tell Souda or not. She looked back up at him – it was Souda, after all. He's not too judgemental on things...most of the time anyway...
"Well, I went to see Nagito in the hospital today...he looked unwell..." Nanami told him. Souda immediately reacted by the change in facial expression. Nanami figured enough that he would know, after all, Tsumiki did say something along the lines of everyone else knowing. "Souda," She began.
Souda looked at Nanami with a concerned expression. He knew. He knew what path fate would choose Komaeda to go across.
"Is Nagito going to die?" Nanami asked. Souda almost cried at this. The tears threatened to roll down his cheeks as he saw who he considered a little sister's face. He was never prepared for this moment. He didn't know all of the emotions Fujisaki programmed into her, but he figured that Nanami was so nonchalant about everything that she wouldn't be capable of this. She looked as if she was going to cry. She hid it well, but Souda could see her biting her lip as well. He didn't know what to do for her. She was a very important part of his life, even though she hasn't been around for long and it hurt him so badly to see that she was in such a state. Souda bit his own lip as he embraced his little sister into a hug.
"He won't." He told her. "He won't die, okay?"
He didn't hear a reaction to this. Nanami gave no such sign of a reaction. She just stood there. Souda got even more worried. He pulled out of the embrace to see Nanami's face. He gave his best fake smile.
"Hey, it's okay! I mean, just because he's in the hospital doesn't mean that something bad is going to happen!" He reassured his robot. "For example, how do you think babies are born?" He said, trying to lighten the mood.
Nanami nodded. "I suppose." She replied.
Souda had a genuine smile on his face now. "There we go! See, it's fine! That guy's the luckiest man on earth! Nothing can kill him! He'll probably even be granted immortality by a giant dragon or something!" He said.
Nanami smiled. "Yeah. You're right..."
Sometime later, Nanami eventually fell asleep. Souda smiled as her carefully picked her up and brought her to her bed. He set her down and covered her with the blankets. Of course, she didn't really need to have the blankets, but it was always nice to give Nanami things that he could actually afford.
"Good night, Chiaki..." He said softly before going off to his own bed.
Nanami sighed as she looked at the empty desk beside her. She knew it. He wasn't coming today. Of course, she would be waiting a while for him to come back.
"What's with that look, Nanami-san?"
Nanami turned around to see Komaeda with Hajime. Komaeda had a sweet smile on his face.
"Nagito, what are you doing here?" She asked, confused.
Komaeda chuckled as he sat down in his seat. "Well, I can't miss out on too much class, can I?"
Nanami narrowed her brows. "You know that's not what I meant..." She scolded.
"I was well enough to leave the hospital. Nothing special really." Komaeda answered.
Nanami felt relief as she smiled. She was so happy to hear that one of her best friends was okay. She would be kind of lost without him and all of his helpful advice. He was quite an intelligent person after all...
She turned to Hajime. "And you Hajime? I didn't expect you and Nagito to be together..." She questioned.
"Don't say it like that..." Hajime told her. "And we just so happened to run into each other. It's not like we're friends or anything..."
"Ouch...that hurt Hajime-kun..." Komaeda said jokingly.
Hajime adverted his eyes before leaning down in front of Nanami. "Hey, no need to get so sad over things like that, okay?"
Nanami tilted her head in confusion. How did Hajime know that she was upset? It wasn't like she showed it that well or anything. She thought that she did an okay job at it...at school anyway...
Hajime's cheeks turned a light shade of pink before he quickly walked to his desk and took his seat. Nanami was confused. The whole day was confusing...she didn't know what to think about the whole mess anymore.
...She would tease Hajime for that little blush later on though...she couldn't wait to see his reaction to that...!
Author's Notes:
Umm...so it's been a while, hasn't it? Whoops. I had to take a short hiatus to catch up on anime, mainly Noragami. I also wanted to fill up my Instagram a bit, play Love Live and focus on school. I think it worked out mostly well. I think I'm doing well in every subject but Maths. I think I won't be in the top class for that anymore considering I got like 9 out of 27 for one of the test...whoops.
Anyways, this chapter was kind of a hard one to write because it's not like Nanami to be mad or upset with someone. Also, Monaca appearing was something I was unsure of how to implement. I figured that the way I wrote it was satisfactory.
I know this is supposed to have romance in it, but I want to at least give the other characters to have some kind of spotlight. The others probably won't have as big of a spotlight as Komaeda did, but considering that he is kind of one of Nanami's best friends, I thought it should be needed. But I hope this doesn't make you want to leave the story, because I have so many ideas in my brain that it's not funny. I wish I put this much effort into school.
Now that that's out of the way, please REVIEW! I need them reviews. You guys have no idea how much I appreciate those reviews of yours because you're all so helpful with what you say, whether it's how I'm doing with characters, the writing in general or if you like what the plot of the chapter was. There is no such thing as a bad review, so REVIEW! I am now going to respond to them all through PM. If you are reviewing as a guest, I shall thank you all on the next chapter.
(Also if you want to follow me on Instagram, visit my FF profile and the link will be there. I cosplay Chiaki and draw. I will also cosplay Chihiro soon. Thanks).