Chapter Text
"So, what qualities do you possess that could be beneficial for a job like this?" The young man interviewing Nagito asked, straightening a stack of papers by tapping them against his desk.
A few weeks ago, Nagito had decided that he should begin searching for a job for the sake of himself and his frogs. A while back Nagito had won the lottery and had about 300,000 dollars added to his savings; combined with the inheritance his parents left him when they passed, Nagito had no real need to get a job for income. Recently, however, money had been a little tighter and although he still had plenty to live off of, Nagito decided he wasn't going to hit another rock bottom before he got his act together again. If he hit rock bottom, so did his frogs, and his frogs had never done anything to deserve that.
"That's a great question," Nagito paused briefly to read his interviewer's name tag before speaking once more. "Hajime! One thing I bring to the table for this position is my teamwork skills and ability to accept change. I've never been too special of a person myself, so I often end up relying on other people, and in turn many of those people relying on me in some form. As for my ability to accept change… Hajime, when things change, people become scared. Some are so used to stability that even the slightest change can send someone into a spiral! But I have lived a life where nothing can be depended upon. I have seen the duality between beautiful hope and ruthless despair; I have learned to love change and the horrors it may bring so that hope can flourish in its wake."
Nagito opened his mouth again but before he could continue on with his rambling, Hajime cleared his throat and tapped a pen on his desk. "So… Would you say 'adapting to schedule changes' is included in that..?" Hajime asked, tone laced with clear confusion. "I mean, having that skill for any job where you have to deal with customers hands on is useful. The ability to, uh, adapt to changes." That was the only logical thing Hajime could pick off from whatever the hell that was. Nagito hadn't gotten to do a rant such as that one in a while, and now that he was feeling better it seemed all that pent up hope-and-despair-jargon just spewed out of him like a water fountain.
Despite the monologue he had just presented Hajime with mere seconds ago, Nagito simply nodded politely. "Oh, yes, those are absolutely skills I possess." He gave Hajime a smile, although he didn't think Hajime caught it as he glanced over to the clock on the wall rather than Nagito's direction. His interviewer turned back to him after a brief moment and cleared his throat for a second time.
"Well, that's a very positive skill to have." Hajime spoke as if he was trying to fill the gap in between the present and the next question. Without skipping a beat, he flipped to the last page on his clipboard, scanning the letters before glancing up once more at his interviewee. "Okay, last big question, why did you choose the job?" He braced himself for another monologue as Nagito opened his mouth to answer.
"I like that one, you can learn a lot about a person by their intentions." Nagito remarked. "I chose this job because I need money to provide for my frogs."
There was a silence in the room as the two men stared at each other. After a bit of hesitation and thought, Hajime forced out a casual laugh at what he believed to be a joke. Nagito did seem like one of those people who used random statements in response to regular questions to be humorous, but Hajime's confusion only grew when Nagito didn't crack so much as a smile, only staring back at him expectantly. "Ah, sorry, I just… Thought of something funny…" Hajime cringed at how obvious his excuse was before composing himself once more. "Do you mind elaborating?"
Nagito nodded and quickly began to explain. "I have three adult African dwarf frogs in my possession. I've had funds to take care of them, but I've been a little bit low recently and so I'm planning on not waiting around until I'm out of money to get a job. One second…" He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone, scrolling on it for an alarmingly short amount of time before turning the screen to Hajime and presenting a picture of three of the strangest looking frogs Hajime had ever seen in his life. Two out of three of the frogs seemed to be devoid of pigment, and Hajime new enough about genetics to deduce it was due to albinism. Regardless, all three of them looked unreal and uncanny, as if they weren't supposed to exist in the physical world. Nagito started to speak again. "I'm doing this for them. They've saved me, Hajime. Before them, I was drab and depressed. But once given something to care about, I sprung into a new form of being. I embraced the change, Hajime, and was rewarded with a beautiful, hopeful reality."
A common theme that was once again revealing itself seemed to be that whenever Nagito spoke Hajime had to take a few minutes or so to process what he had just said to him. "W- Uh… Well, that was the last question I needed from you. You seem to be very… Motivated, which is very good in a position like this…" He weakly reassured, scribbling something down on his clipboard before once more shooting a glance up at the clock. "It's always good to be, uh, motivated- Okay! So! That was the last question we needed. Thank you so much for your time, we'll contact you soon with results."
Nagito smiled and put his phone back in his pocket, standing up and drifting towards the door frame before waving goodbye to Hajime, having his gesture sheepishly and hesitantly returned by his interviewer just as he shut the door. He made his way out of the backroom of the establishment, out the door and manoeuvred his way through the mall his (hopefully) soon-to-be job resided. Nagito had never worked in fast food before, but the concept seemed simple enough. He'd only heard horror stories from friends about rude customers, dead weight co-workers and disgusting messes that took ages to clean, but for a reason that wasn't too apparent to him Nagito felt like he was going to make the job, brimming with hope as he approached his car.
-
"Yeah, no, I'm definitely not hiring that guy." Hajime's tone was exasperated as he leaned against the inside of the front counter. Hiro, his current conversation partner and only employee, looked up at him with a puzzled expression, prompting him to explain further. "He's just… Weird, I guess. I don't think he'd be bearable to work with."
Apparently, that further explanation was not enough to satisfy Hiro. "Maaan, c'mon. I talked to the guy and he seemed fine. A little airheaded, but he gave me the vibes of a cool dude." He said, fidgeting with a magic eight ball that had long distracted him from his task of wiping down the countertops so he and Hajime could close up.
"Listen, I thought that too. He seemed… Okay, at first glance, but he went on two whole monologues during the interview. Not long answers or anything, straight up cartoon villain type monologues." Hajime ranted, furrowing his brow. "And the frog thing. I asked him why he wanted the job expecting a normal answer, which was a little stupid considering the answers to the previous questions, and he told me he was doing it to provide for his pet frogs. And then showed me a picture of the damned things, which would have been relatively normal if they weren't the weirdest frogs I'd ever seen in my whole life. I kept looking around the office expecting to see a camera and have the guy tell me I was on a prank TV show or something like that."
Hiro rolled the eight ball around in his hands, staring at it as he took a moment to process Hajime's rambling. "He just kinda sounds passionate. I think it rocks that the guy has something he's into like that, y'know? At least he wasn't like, 'Oh, I need this job 'cause I wanna spend all the money on hard drugs' or something like that."
Hajime narrowed his eyes at Hiro. "Why would anyone respond to an interview question with that?" He asked, earning him a slow shrug from Hiro.
"I dunno, I'm just saying be glad he didn't, I guess. There's worse people to work with out there." Hiro answered before shutting his eyes and tilting his head upwards, humming lowly to himself for a moment before speaking once more. "Plus, I'm seeing him as our co-worker right now in a vision."
Hajime couldn't help the scoff that came out of his mouth in response to Hiro, causing his co-worker to open his eyes and look over at him again. "Yeah, I'm not budging unless you give me something concrete." Hajime joked. He had started (or more so began continuing) the task of wiping the counters before he heard Hiro start speaking again, but not to him.
"Magic 8 ball, will Hajime hire the dude who came in here for an interview today?" Hiro asked the question loud enough that Hajime couldn't ignore him, dropping the rag to glare at him in response. Hiro shook the ball wildly, glanced at it, and then swung it around so it was right in Hajime's face, clearing reading 'IT IS CERTAIN'. "Do another." Hajime says flatly, making Hiro roll his eyes as he shakes the 8 ball once more.
Hiro takes longer to assess this reading than the last one, Hajime notices. When he shows Hajime the ball's reading, it says 'IT IS CERTAIN' once more, and Hajime grabs the 8 ball from his hands to shake it around wildly and then glare at the results. Hiro had shuffled over to him, eagerly awaiting the ball's wisdom.
And there, once more, it read 'IT IS CERTAIN', and for a moment even Hiro seems surprised. "I've never gotten the same exact reading this many times in a row like this." Hiro notes, looking over at a rather contemplative Hajime. Hiro watches as his manager hunches over a bit, distances his feet so his legs make an upside down 'V', and winds up his arm before dropping the 8 ball onto the ground and watching it roll off like a bowling ball. "Hey! Dude, don't do that to my stuff! I paid, like, 38 bucks for that…"
Ignoring Hiro's comment on how ridiculously badly he got scammed by whoever sold him the 8 ball, Hajime approaches it, picks it up and feels the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as he reads 'IT IS CERTAIN' for the fourth time this evening. "Hey, Hiro, catch!" Hajime gives little warning before he tosses the 8 ball back to him, Hiro scrambling to grab it from the air and glaring back at his co-worker. Before Hiro could tell him off, Hajime asked him, "What's it say?"
"Uh, another 'IT IS CERTAIN'. What did you get when you rolled it?" Hajime tensed up glancing around again at the security cameras in the room. For the second time today, he felt like he was on a prank TV show that never ended. "It said the same thing as the other times."
Now it was Hiro's turn to freak out. "What the hell! Britney Spears on a stick, this is creeping me out!" He shook his hands around and made a face, unintentionally glancing back at the 8 ball and yelping. "IT'S ANOTHER 'IT IS CERTAIN'!" He easily gave up the 8 ball when Hajime stomped over to grab it from him.
"Okay, no, this thing is broken. Watch this." Hajime cleared his throat. "Magic 8 ball, did I eat a whole, live gecko for breakfast this morning?" He calmly shook the ball around and waited for 'IT IS CERTAIN' to appear on the triangle that floated with in, and genuinely staggered back when it read a simple, but contextually frightening, 'NO'. Before he could hide it, Hiro had snuck up behind him and glanced over his shoulder, letting out a shriek.
"GYAH! Nah, that's it! You gotta hire this guy, Hajime!" Hiro was actively jogging around in a small circle with a terrified look on his face. "No. This is freaky and all, but I can't hire someone over an 8 ball's divination-" Hajime's retort was cut short by Hiro grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him close so that they were eye to eye. "If you don't hire him, I'm never talking to you again! I'm leaving the country and moving to Mexico! Hajime, we'll be so cursed, our grandkids kids will have curses! By the power of all that is holy, I can tell you that this sure isn't!"
There was silence as Hiro held him in an intense gaze and Hajime realized he wasn't blinking at all as they stared at each other. Slowly, he brushed Hiro's hands off of his shoulders and let out a deep, heavy sigh.
"... I'll think about it."
-
Nagito stumbled into his apartment and practically threw his bag and jacket onto the ground, kicking off his shoes. He couldn't believe his car broke down on the way back from the interview! It was such a sour end to an experience Nagito knew in his heart would guarantee him a job. The worst part of it was that he needed to get back as soon as possible to take Minecraft Steve to the vet, and he had come back so late the only aquatic vet near his house had closed not 30 minutes earlier. When the frog tank came into view, Nagito took in a deep breath and felt his anger and anxiety leave him. Approaching it and looking at Minecraft Steve, he noted she seemed to be in about the same condition she was when he left the house. She had been looking a little… Wider than usual and Nagito had worried it was some sort of bloat. When he compared her with a picture of a frog who actually had it however, she seemed absolutely fine in comparison. He still wanted to play it safe, but realized she wasn't lethargic or displaying any symptoms of illness at all, coming up to eat along with her tankmates when he pours a serving of food into their tank, which he has been lovingly enriching with decorations and even a couple toys ever since he became serious about frog keeping.
As much as Nagito loves and wants to keep admiring his frog tank, he realized that he's incredibly fatigued as has been ever since he got out of the interview. When he rung his hands together as he began to think, he noticed his hands are clammier than they usually tend to be. Nagito chuckles to himself, and realized he's most likely tired from an eventful day out of the house. He shuffled over to the kitchen to check the clock on his oven and saw that it was not too late in the day, with the clock reading 8:34 PM. Nagito takes a packaged meal out of his freezer and puts it in the microwave, waiting patiently for it to be finished with a yawn. When it was cooked, he walked over in front of the tank to check on everyone inside, and when he saw only happy frogs he smiled and waved to them before making his way to his bedroom to eat.
-
Nagito wakes to cold sunlight seeping through the blinds on his window and onto his face and, less pleasantly, a literal jabbing pain on the side of his stomach. Reaching down for the source he found it to be a metal fork sticking out of an empty microwavable meal tray. He remembered the events of last night and seeing how it was 9:26 in the morning, he probably got around 12 hours of sleep, making it ridiculous that he was as tired as he was. No matter his fatigue, he slid out of bed and stretched out his limbs, all of which responded with multiple audible cracks.
Sluggishly making his way into the main room and towards the kitchen, Nagito took a moment to check on his frogs and feed them their daily bloodworm breakfast, and as he did so and looked around the tank he frozd up upon spotting a clump of what he first mistakes for hydrated water beads or orzo before immediately recognizing them from a video he once watched about frog breeding. Those were eggs! He targeted a glance towards Minecraft Steve and realized she is much less bloated then she appeared earlier, returning back to her normal froggy shape. Nagito scrambled into the kitchen, grabbed a cup and fills it with treated water from the main tank, filling up a smaller emergency tank and then carefully scooping as many eggs as possible into it. A strange feeling swells in Nagito's chest, and unlike all of the other feelings he's felt when faced with major events concerning his frogs, it is bright, warm and full, almost too much to handle as he looks at the eggs. Nagito realized this is probably what the shepherd's felt when they gazed upon a newborn baby Jesus. He frantically reached into his pockets for his phone, dialing a number that is helpfully familiar to him.
-
Gundham's phone rung (or more so played the song Just Communication by Two Mix) in his coat pocket, which Sonia recognized as she laid cuddled next to him, reading her favorite book of short horror stories. She sat up from her space on the couch after shifting the arm that held her there, plucked his phone from his pocket and gently shook him awake.
"Gwuh- Oh, hello." Gundham lazily greeted her, still managing to give her a smile. She smiled back and handed the phone to him. "It's for you." He took the phone from her slowly, narrowed his eyes and then shrieked, jumping off of the couch in excitement. "IT'S NAGITO KOMAEDA!" He shouted, jumping from leg to leg.
Sonia hastily put her book down and clapped her hands together. "Oh, goody! Tell me how he's doing! It's been so long since we've heard from him." Truthfully it had maybe been a week, but they were both eager to know he was doing well.
Gundham accepted the call. "HELLO?!" He shouted once more, barely able to contain his excitement. "Hi! How are you on this hope filled day, Gundham?" Nagito responds and Gundham takes his phone away from his ear to put it on speaker. "Oh, simply wonderful. Tell me, Komaeda, what do you seek from me?" Even trying to sound cool was proving difficult for him as he nervously awaited to hear how Nagito was faring. "Well, that's actually what I called you about… Minecraft Steve was looking bloated, and I've discovered why. She had a clutch of eggs!"
Gundham practically screamed at that, laughing evily as Sonia stood to wrap herself around his arm. "Oh, Nagito, that's great news!" She smiled brightly, even if the person it was meant for couldn't see it. "Hello, by the way!"
"Hello! It's wonderful news, I finally feel like things are going well for me. Oh, I am living a hopeful life!" Nagito cut himself off before he began rambling once more. "I seperated the eggs, and I don't know if they're fertilized or not. They look like orzo pasta."
"Oh, that is good! Very good! They've probably been fertlizied. This species of frog fertilizes it's eggs immediately. My advice is to keep a watchful eye on the clutch… If all goes well, you will have additional subjects to your dark kingdom! Call me when they hatch, and I shall provide you with advice!" Gundham cackled. Nagito nodded and looked over to the eggs. "Do you have room for frogs like these? I know you breed frogs like these, so if too many hatch can I possibly give some to you?" Nagito loved the frogs dearly, but he wanted to make sure he had enough resources to make sure they were all cared for sufficiently, and part of that was keeping a manageable amount of them.
"Oh, absolutely. I shall take as many of the clutch off of your hands as you so desire." Gundham affirmed. "Ah, okay! That makes me feel better. I'll let you guys stay updated on the development of the eggs. Goodbye Gundham, goodbye Sonia!" Nagito let them respond before hanging up, immediately pressing his face up to the emergency tank to observe the eggs.
Gundham had a warm smile on his face he couldn't turn into an evil grin no matter how hard he tried. "I'm so glad he's doing well, aren't you?" Sonia asked, still hugging his arm. "I am overjoyed! Frog ownership is a trial to many. It brings me immense happiness to know he is not only faring well, but enjoying himself while doing it." Sonia gave a long, content hum before suddenly speaking as if she'd just remembered something. "Oh! Can I talk to you about the book I'm reading? I think I have a new theory on one of the chapters."
-
Hajime sat at the desk in his room, tapping a pencil up and down on a notebook. The simple movement reminded him of the interview of yesterday, and he realized Hiro was going to kill him if he waited any longer to give his answer. Whenever he tried thinking about it, he always came back to the magic 8 ball being right as an actual reason to hire Nagito, and it always made him frustrated with the situation at hand.
When Hajime really thought about it, the only reason he didn't want to hire Nagito was because he was weird. They desperately needed another employee at work, as running a fast food joint with two people at a time left both him and Hiro exhausted at the end of the day. Hajime usually wasn't the type of person to let weirdness deter him from making decisions if they benefitted him, and as he ran through the very short stack of job applications he'd received in his mind, he realized Nagito was unfortunately the best fit for the job. He sighed deeply, telling himself the only thing he'd have to lose was to work with another strange guy (which he already does), and picks up his phone, quickly punching in a number. "Hello?" Nagito's voice answers from the other side.
-
Nagito scrambled to grab a bagel out of the toaster and shove it in his mouth as he pulled on his uniform's pants. He had slept through his alarm and awoke later then intended. Thankfully he could still probably manage to be on time if he sped, but the panic that accompanied getting ready for something like this so quickly wasn't pleasant. He ran back into the main room and pressed his hand onto the glass of the main tank for one last goodbye. Soon after, he grabbed his jacket and bag and bolted out of the door, heading towards his car.
He arrived two minutes later than he intended to and was already preparing his profuse apology in his mind. Despite the fatigue (possibly due to Xanax withdrawal) and late arrival, Nagito felt great emotionally. He took a deep breath to prepare himself, put his hand on the door and pushed, nearly hitting a small child and his mother in the process. He made his way towards the door marked 'E̶M̶P̶L̶Y̶ EMPLOYEES ONLY' and glanced around, spotting a man he hadn't seen before. Before he could introduce himself, the man's eyes widened to the size of tea cup saucers, nearly dropping the drink he was holding.
"WE'RE SAAAVED!"