A Day in the Life of Nagito Komaeda

He's relatively quiet. He doesn't bring up anything new to the table unless he is called upon. They played games in class. Much different than our class. Komaeda's luck is truly impressive. He won at everything he participated in.

No new information regarding an interest towards Naegi.

It is now lunch. Naegi and Komaeda eat lunch together sitting under a tree. They have a philosophical conversation about Hope. Komaeda is very self-deprecating and Naegi is trying to encourage him. Naegi seems on edge. When Naegi stood up, he tripped and Komaeda caught him. Naegi grew exceedingly flustered and jumped out of his grasp quickly. Komaeda calls him the, 'Ultimate Hope'. Judging from the context of their prior conversation, that is the utmost compliment he could have given him.

The bell rings and the day passes as normal.

School has just ended. Naegi waits for Komaeda in front of the school's gate. They walk home together. It is difficult blending into the scenery so that they do not notice. Komaeda is quite perceptive. I have to be careful.

They arrive at Naegi's house. I had assumed that they lived together. My suspicions were confirmed. After a couple minutes of waiting outside, Komaeda reappears at the entrance. It seems that he is going for a walk.

As he walks down the street, he hums a song. He walks towards the park when he is suddenly pulled down an alleyway. Two thugs stand there, one holding a baseball bat, the other bare-handed.

"What do we have here?"

"Hey, this guy looks pretty wealthy."

"I can assure, you that unfortunately, I am completely broke."

After some bantering and some verbal abuse, they decide to beat Komaeda up.

"Wait a second! You two are a part of the 'Crazy Diamond' gang, right?"

"And? So what?"

"I know your leader."

"Yeah, and why should we care?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't like it if you two were to injure a colleague of his."

"How do we know that you're not just lying?"

"Ah, you want proof. Of course you do. His name is Mondo Oowada. He's relatively tall, and quite muscular. I believe he drives a Kawasaki motorcycle."

How does Komaeda even know that much about our class? The rumors must be true. The two gang members stare at each other for a good while before they decide what to do with Komaeda. Then end up tying his wrists and ankles up with a rope and put him on the back of their bikes and drive off.

Unfortunately, I did not bring any modes of transportation with me, so I had to return to the dorms in order to retrieve my bicycle. Luckily, I had already been to the base of the Crazy Diamonds during a previous case, so I knew where to go.

Located in an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town, I found Komaeda and the rest of the Crazy Diamond gang, save Oowada himself. Instead, it was a blond-haired boy named Takemichi Yukimaru. He appeared to be the stand-in for when Oowada was gone.

"Yukimaru-san. Do you know who this brat is?"

"No. Who the hell is that?"

"He says that Big Bro Oowada knows him."

"Yes. That is correct."

Yukimaru pulls out his phone and types something. He gets a frustrated expression and seconds later, a bike smashes through the side of the building, creating yet another hole in the fragile structure.

All the people in the warehouse are stunned by the skill and power that the biker had used to create such destruction. As expected, it was Oowada. He parks his bike right in front and gets off.

"Yukimaru. What's the hold-up?"

"This guy says he knows you."

Oowada gains a contorted expression.

"Yeah, he goes to my school. He's a year older than me. Komaeda Nagito, right?"

"That is correct! I'm so honored you remembered my name!"

"Why is he here, though?"

Komaeda nods to the two standing behind him.

"They tried to mug me."

"Is that true?"

Their response is some sweat and worried panting.

This set Oowada off.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT ROBBING PEOPLE!? WE RIDE MOTORCYCLES, WE'RE NOT CRIMINALS!"

The two begin to freak out and start running away, jumping onto their bikes parked about where I'm hiding, riding off. They don't seem to notice me.

"If anyone tries to do anything so bluntly illegal like that again, your head is next."

"Um...Big Bro Oowada, why've you been so anti-crime all of the sudden? Last year, you encouraged us to steal."

"Someone at school has changed my mind. This is for your well being as much as it is for everyone else."

That must be Ishimaru. The two have been very close recently.

Just as Yukimaru is about respond, a large blast resonates through the building. Another hole had been created in the side of the wall. Walking through it is a short boy with a couple body guards, one who is silver-haired, much closer than the rest. The boy approaches Oowada.

"O…Oowada?"

"Kuzuryuu?"

They begin to speak in unison.

"You're their leader?!"

They both seem very confused. I believe the boy is Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the Ultimate Yakuza, and the other is Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. I had suspected their relationship to be like this.

As the two yell back and forth, a man draped in robes simply walks down the middle of the hall like some grand figure. Their voices slowly trail off when they notice his presence. He stops right between the two gangsters and places his hand on his chin.

"Gundham?" Kuzuryuu is in utter shock and is struggling to speak. "Why are you here?"

"I have come in search of the Great Serpent of the Netherworld. Perhaps it has seen you."

"How many pets have you lost this year?!"

The man appears to be Gundham Tanaka, the Ultimate Breeder.

"The Serpent was not lost! He was simply kidnapped by the small, heinous one."

"Small, heinous one?" He looks just as confused as before, until it dawns on him. "You mean, Saionji stole your snake?"

"Hmph. If you prefer to think of it in that way."

Kuzuryuu bursts out into laughter, falling on the floor to pound his fist against it.

A red haired girl runs right past me, adding another person to the bunch. She has a camera strapped to her. She must be Mahiru Koizumi.

"Have any of you seen Saionji? I saw her run by with a snake."

Kuzuryuu pauses for a second, only to return to laughter.

"Hey! Boys in this situation should know that you're not supposed to laugh!"

"Don't fight." It's Komaeda. He seems still have not broken free of his shackles. "We're so lucky to have so many Ultimates in one room together! We should take this moment to—"

A loud explosion is set off in the back of the warehouse, yet again. This time, it's much louder and much stronger. The sound echoes throughout the whole building.

Oowada starts panicking and cursing loudly. He mentions something about a rival gang. He hops on his bike and speeds off. The members of his gang follow him. Kuzuryuu, Pekoyama, and the rest of his entourage take this moment to leave out of the hole they came, having accomplished their objective.

Gundham and Koizumi cautiously approach the spot where the explosion occurred. From the rubble, a head pops out. Koizumi runs to it.

"Hiyoko-chan!"

"Mahiru-neesan, look! I found Mr. Snake!" She pouts her lips. "Although I tripped over something, got angry, kicked it, then this big explosion happened!"

The girl holds up a red and black snake into the air. Koizumi screams.

"Hiyoko-chan! Set that down! That's a coral snake!"

Gundham is angered by that comment.

"That is an incorrect statement. That serpent is the king of imposters. Although they cast the appearance of death, they are weaker than mortal spawn."

"Hiyoko-chan! Let that thing go!"

After much bickering, Gundham receives his snake from Saionji and they part ways.

Left all by his lonesome in the cold and half decimated warehouse, Komaeda lies on the ground, unable to move due to the ropes tying him down. He sighs, seemingly disappointed that he was just left here.

"Kirigiri-san? You were here all this time? To be expected of the Ultimate Detective. I didn't even notice you at all. Hm? What are you doing? You shouldn't cut these ropes, for someone like me. Just leave me here."

I cut him loose. As the sun set, I pedaled through the city, with a boy leaning on my back. I decided to take him back to Naegi's house on the back of my bicycle. He got tired and ended up leaning against me. When I started to speak, he straightened up a bit.

"Komaeda-kun. How do you feel about Naegi-kun?"

"Hm? That's an interesting question."

I waited for my response.

"Naegi-kun is like no other person to me. Such a unique person, so full of Hope. In essence, he is the epitome of everything I could dream of. His belief in everyone, including peons like myself, is truly astounding. It's hard to comprehend sometimes."

"Say, if you were to remove his Hope, would you still like him?"

"Well, he wouldn't exactly be Naegi-kun without that Hope. One's Hope defines one's personality, if you look at it in a way. If you're asking solely about appearance, I'd say that Naegi-kun is cute.' He laughed. 'But, I could say the same for almost anyone."

"Do you think Naegi-kun likes you?"

The wheels of the bike tore against the asphalt as Komaeda thought about a response. It was now almost pitch black, the sun having fully set. It was a long while before he finally opened his mouth.

"I…I truly Hope so. Even for someone as pitiful as me, I honestly want Naegi-kun to like me back."

"So…Then that's it? A…A…Yes?"

"It appears so."

My face contorts and turns a brash red.

"I'm…I'm…Not sure what to think."

"Talk to him. That's the only advice I can give."

"Al…Alright, then."

I bow just the slightest.

"Thank you, Kirigiri-san. I feel guilty for not confronting him in the first place, but you have confirmed my doubts."

"Raise your head. I don't need thanks. I'm a detective. This is simply what I do."

I just realized something about that story.

"Wait a second. Does that mean that you were writing as you were riding your bike?"

"I wrote it afterwards, obviously."

"S…Sorry."