Let's Go Home

After yesterday, Komaeda hasn't really spoken to me. I eat with him, and I still make him lunch, but he doesn't say anything but a polite, "Thank you" and a "Goodbye, Naegi-kun". I notice that he's been wearing the same thing for three days in a row. It's getting really dirty by now.

"Komaeda. Where'd your uniform go?"

It takes a while for the reply to usher out of his mouth.

"I stained it."

"Why not wash it?"

"I don't have a washer."

"Where do you live?"

"Oh, it shouldn't concern someone like you where trash like me lives."

"It does."

"I know what you're going to do. And I don't want that."

"Tell me."

He locks eyes with me. I know that he wouldn't lie to me. Especially now. Now I know how Togami feels around Fukawa. Except I'm not a prick. Komaeda gives into my glare.

"School. I sleep on the grass."

"So you burned down your entire house."

He looks to the side, avoiding the fierceness in my eyes.

"Aren't there the school dorms?"

He tries to give another option to avoid the inevitability of what I'm going to say.

"There are, but if you don't blow them up, your luck will. The rumors about you aren't exactly the most flattering, and I know that a lot of them aren't just rumors."

"They why are you going to…"

"What, Komaeda?"

"Send me to an orphanage?"

What. Oh. That's what he thought I was going to do? I'm shocked, honestly.

"No. Why would I do that?"

"After seeing me for this long, you've gotten sick of being in my presence. You want to send me away. Lowly insects like me shouldn't hang around such Hope as yourself."

It still irks me that he's actually dishing out compliments. He needs to have a high opinion of himself.

"I wasn't going to say that at all."

"Huh? Really?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to spend the night at my place for a while. We should have an extra futon, and I'm sure my mom would be okay with it."

He remains emotionless for a couple seconds, perhaps collecting his thoughts, considering how and in what way he should act.

"Wow. I sure am lucky to be offered something like that from someone like you." He says this while having one of those copy-and-paste grins. He sighs and looks apologetic, also, copy-and-pasted. "However, I have to decline."

"Why? You like sleeping on the dirt?"

"Oh, it's not like that. I just don't want to hinder the Hope that you may bring. My very presence will mess up the beauty that you exert."

I grab his non-broken arm.

"Don't talk like that. I told you that my Hope is to help everybody. If you want to see my Hope from my eyes, you need to at least try."

A smirk slowly creeps across his face. His laugh is slow at first, but it quickly gains pace. It's more of a hearty laugh compared to his throat giggles. Those spirals reformed.

"You're brilliant, Naegi-kun! Even Hoping that someone as insignificant and worthless as myself can have Hope of my own! It's brilliant! You truly are the Ultimate Hope!"

I quickly let go of his arm. Did I just offer to let this guy into my house? I'm scared. But it's too late for that.

"Sure! I'll spend the night. I'll be fun, I'm sure."

No. It's my duty, now, to make this person into a better one. I have to get him to understand what's right or wrong. It what I have to do.

"So this is your house, Naegi-kun?" He laughs softly. "It'll be hard to keep track of all the Naegi-kuns and -sans, won't it?"

"Well, they have first names. My sister's is Komaru."

"Komaru-san, then."

Oh she's definitely not going to like that.

"Your house is a bit small, Naegi-kun."

Small? "How big was yours?"

"Well, it was my parent's house, originally. It had two bedrooms, three guest bedrooms, and six bathrooms."

That's gigantic. In this neighborhood?

"And you lived there by yourself?"

"Who else would I be with?"

That's kinda sad, actually. Wait a second…

"How did you pay for the upkeep?"

"Oh, when I was a kid, I was kidnapped by a murderer and shoved into a trash bag. It had a winning lottery ticket!" He laughs nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.

"How much money would that have to be?"

"Hm…A couple hundred million yen, I think."

"A couple hundred million?! What happened to all that?! Couldn't you just buy another house?"

"While I was at the hospital, somebody hacked my account and stole all of it. There weren't even any traces left."

I'm just glad I don't have his luck. Well, I have my own kind of luck. Being around him.

"Well, let's just go in then."

I slip a key into the lock and open the door only to have Komaru charge at me.

"Brother! You're ho—Eh? Who's this?"

"My name is Nagito Komaeda. You brother has spoken of you, Komaru-san."

I've just spoken of her. Not spoken highly of her. Just spoken of her.

Komaru glares at me like I did something horribly wrong. Oh crap, he actually used her first name. Komaeda recognizes this and absolutely fails to correct himself.

"Would you prefer Komaru-kun? Or perhaps -chan?"

Komaru yanks me by the arm and whispers into my ear, "Makoto, who the hell is this guy?"

I whisper back. "He's a bit weird, but I don't think he has bad intent. Maybe a little destructive. But not a bad intent."

She lets go of me and sighs. "So are you a Ultimate student, Komaeda-kun?"

"I'm just your average student who goes to Hope's Peak."

"You're a reserve course student?"

He looks insulted, the accepts it. "I'm the same level."

"He's a year older than me. He's the Ultimate Luck."

"Huh? But aren't you the…"

"There's two of us."

She doesn't get it, but just shrugs it off. "Okay, then."

"Are Mom and Dad around?"

"Dad's not home yet, but Mom's here."

"I need to…have a talk with them."

We end up sitting on the two couches, Komaeda next to me, Komaru next to my mother. My mother clasps her hands together.

"Of course you can spend the night for a while."

Komaeda bows a bit.

"Thank you very much, Naegi-san." He lifts his head. "I'm quite good at cleaning. It's really the only thing I'm good at."

"Don't worry about the cleaning. I always end up doing it, anyways." She gives Komaru and I the stink-eye. "You don't have any relatives?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Well, you can be part of our family for a while, Komaeda-kun."

He bows his head again.

"It would be an honor, Naegi-san."

Komaeda helped my mother make dinner. With someone actually taking him through the steps, I don't think he'll destroy anything. I thought he'd be a bit more rash, saying unnecessary things about Hope, but it really hasn't been that bad. I'm honestly relieved. The food was good, too. Although I do feel a bit bad about it now, considering he did all that with one arm.

Nightfall is now upon us. I lay in my bed, wearing my pyjamas for the first time in what seems like years. Usually, I just sleep in my underwear, but I'm not going to do that when someone else is sleeping in that futon on the ground.

Yes. My mother thought it was a good idea to put the futon on the ground of my room. All I can do is lay here praying he doesn't say anything weird. I feel bad for him, but why'd I do this to myself?

I curl up into a ball and the light switch suddenly turns on, blinding me for a short while. I roll over, irritated.

Expectedly, it's Komaeda. Unexpectedly, he's just in his boxers. They're checkered. Well, he also has his arm sling. He looks a bit strange as his normally puffed hair is weighed down by the burden of water droplets. He's quite pale.

"Good night, Naegi-kun."

I roll over again.

"Go to sleep."

He turns off the light, closes the door and I presume he gets into his futon.

"Hey, Naegi-kun."

"I'm trying to sleep."

"How would you feel if I went into Komaru's room and stabbed her?"

What? What did he just say?

"What would you do? Seek revenge? Forgive me? How would you overcome that Despair with your Hope?"

I get out my bed instantaneously.

"What are you saying?"

"It was just a hypothetical situation. I wouldn't do anything without asking you first. After all, it's your Hope, not mine." He pulls the edge of the blanket closer to himself. That cackle banshee banter echoes softly through the room. I can't see him clearly, but I know if the light were turned on, his eyes would remain the same color. Pitch black. "Good night, Naegi-kun. Sleep tight."

I fall back onto my bed and face the wall, away from him. I exhale deeply and close my eyes. Why am I letting him do this? Why did I just let him get away with threatening to stab Komaru? How did I just accept that? Do I know he won't do it? He would if he needed to, I know that. He could kill somebody, definitely.

Yet I'm facing away from him, not scared at all. Is this trust? Do I trust him that well?

No. I know him too well. His Hope never falters. He does have his own Hope, as much as he'd like to deny it. His Hope is the same as mine, really. Creating Hope in others. We're not that different, really, us lucky students. Then why…No. We are different. No matter the Hope, if the means are wrong, then it becomes Despair.

I see…that's how it is…

I feel something soft on my arm. Something heavy on my back. Someone is breathing on my neck.

Someone is on my bed, gripping me.

Everything within me chokes up and in that instant, I recognize how vulnerable I am. Whoever this is, they're really gripping to me.

Who is this? Is it…He wouldn't do this…I begin to tremble. He could do anything. I don't even know what he's capable of. No. I'm not even sure if it's him. It's not like I can see anything. It's too dark. I can…ask.

"Who are…"

From their sleep, I hear a soft mumble. It's difficult to make out the owner of the voice, but I can hear it clearly.

"Ko…ma…"

I take a stilted breath inwards. Well, at least I know who it is now. He hasn't done anything, so I think I can go back to sleep. I guess I'll see in the morning.

I'm awakened by the incessant ringing of my alarm clock. I roll over and slam my hand on it to shut it up. I stretch my whole body out on the bed, the single blanket helping keep me warm clustered up in a bunch by the footboard. I let out a loud yawn and hoist myself up, dangling my feet over the edge of the bed.

I rub my eyes in a sorry attempt to wake myself up and notice that Komaeda is still asleep, tightly clutching the blanket that surrounds him. I hop onto the floor and give him a shake. He rolls over to look at me and slowly lifts his eyelids.

"Good morning, Naegi-kun."

"Get up, it's time for school."

He leans upwards off the floor, rubbing his temple with the base of his free palm. His hair is a disoriented mess. I always thought that he just didn't brush it, but obviously, that's not the case. It's flat in the back, like he had slept on his shoulders. The other strands stick up in all sorts of ways. I can't really complain, though, because I have one strand where no matter what I do, it always goes back to the same spot. Komaru has one, too. Maybe it's hereditary.

I sit on the bed.

"Hey, Komaeda. Did you…have any dreams last night?"

"Nope. None at all. Why do you ask? Oh, is it about that time when someone came in here? I'm a light sleeper. When they opened the door, it woke me up."

Wait…It wasn't Komaeda? Who was it?!

"AAH!"

Komaru slams open the already partially open door and calls out, "Makoto! Are you okay?!"

"Huh?"

She blinks a single time.

"You screamed. What was that about?"

Eh…No…It couldn't be…

"Komaru, did you have dreams last night?"

She relaxes a bit, pressing her index finger onto the bottom of her lip.

"Now that you mention it, I had one where you were captured by an evil witch and I came to the rescue and saved you!"

Glad to know she thinks highly of me.

"Did you come into my room?"

She pouts a bit.

"I went to the bathroom once."

"In my room?"

"No!"

I'm just relieved to know that my sister loves me, and that it wasn't…I look at Komaeda. Sitting down, he looks up and me and smiles. Well, you know…

We ended up letting him borrow some of my father's clothing. He was okay with it. He seemed happy that I brought a friend home. It was a white dress shirt and black pants. Komaeda said that it was too formal, but it was really the only thing we could let him borrow.

We said goodbye to Komaru, and now we're walking our way to school. I'm just happy that Hope's Peak isn't too far. Some people have to move from other countries to go here.

"Hey, Komaeda. Don't you have the Ultimate Princess in your class?"

"If you mean Sonia Nevermind-san, then yes. I don't know her too well, though."

"Who do you know well?"

"No one, really. I don't want to interfere with their Hope."

Back to Hope. Everything leads back to Hope.

"You should get some more friends."

"More?" He laughs softly. "I'm sorry to say that I'm quite the loner. I thought you'd figure that out by now."

I walk a bit fast and stop right in front of him, forcing him to pause. I furrow my brow.

"Do I have to say it?"

He looks downwards at me. He doesn't get it.

"You're my friend. And I'm yours."