Chapter Text
Huh…?
Both boys stared at the first page of the large document. The original text of “Hopes Peak Academy Class 77” was desperately scratched out and under it was written, “Remnants of Despair” in red marker.
Komaeda immediately felt his blood run cold at seeing the word he hates so much on a document that could change everything. He looked over at Hinata who stares at the words with a confused glare.
“What the hell does that mean…?” He says squinting his eyes. He looks over to see Komaeda looking at him with a look of almost terror. Komaeda looked almost vulnerable and it made Hinata feel actual sympathy for the guy.
“Maybe we should wait-” He started while trying to close the document before being stopped by Komaedas hand grasping his own. Hinata jumped back a bit with a blush on his face. Nagito immediately starts to apologize for touching Hinata while Hinata tries to calm him down.
After everything is calm again they look at the document once again. They give each other a look and a nod before Hinata reaches out and they start to read the contents of the first few pages. To their surprise, it started out exactly how they thought it would. Each page had information about everyone on the island. They slowly let their guard down until… they reached Hinatas page. Hinata stopped turning over the page when he saw his picture and tried to take a deep breathe. He was nervous. He was scared that his talent would be something to be ashamed of or something bad. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you ok Hinata-kun? Are you nervous?” Komaeda said quietly as he looked at him with a worried look. Hinata looked at Komaeda with a shocked expression, then looked at the floor and sighed before nodding.
“It’s ok Hinata-kun! I’m sure your talent is going to be amazing! After all, you have the most hope I’ve ever seen!” Komaeda said with a giant smile and his eye sparkling. Hinata felt a little more optimistic but at the same time, he felt worse. What if his talent couldn’t live up to Komaedas expectations? What if he couldn’t live up to Komaedas expectations? He didn’t show his inner turmoil of course, instead he put on a weak smile and nodded with a small thank you.
Before Hinata could say anything more, Komaeda turned the page.
*Komaedas POV*
I quickly skim over the information I already knew/didn’t care about before reaching the talent section of the page.
My heart practically stops at the words on the page.
“Reserve Course”
I re-read it over and over again trying to make sure I read it right and the more I read it the more I start to panic. I suddenly realize I’m having an anxiety attack and I’m screaming. I yell how it has to be wrong and that it was lying. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I hear a voice telling me to breathe. I comply before I realize the voice is Hinata and I push him away.
“K-Komaeda please you have to stay calm, just breathe.” Hinata said comfortingly as he tries to get closer again. My mind is screaming at me to run away but instead I let him come closer and I let him calm me down. I let a reserve course student calm me down.
Hinata gives me a few minutes to fully calm down before speaking up.
*Hinatas POV*
“K-Komaeda?” I start, trying to get his attention. He looks at the floor with a death glare that sent shivers down my spine. I clear my throat before continuing.
“What does reserve course mean…?” I ask unsurely. He takes in a shaky breath, breathes out then looks at me with a disappointed expression that makes me feel sick.
“It means you have no talent.” He says quietly but with finality. My eyes widen as I shake my head.
“Th-that can’t be right… why would I be on this field trip if I’m…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t want to believe it.
“If you’re a normal, boring person?” he says in a harsh voice that feels like a stab to the heart. Komaeda hates me. I knew Komaeda only liked me because he thought I was special. But now that he knows I’m not, he probably hates me. It hurt. It hurt a lot to think about and I didn’t know why.
*No Ones POV*
Hinata shook his head to clear his thoughts before picking up the document to continue reading on his own while Komaeda glared at the wall.
The rest was the same as before until he reached Togamis page. He read the talent and gasped.
“Ultimate Imposter.”
Granted it wasn’t that surprising, especially after seeing the actual Togami in the document they got back in the amusement park. However, it was still a bit of a shock to confirm. He thought about telling Komaeda, but seeing as his death stare had not wavered once, he thought it’d be best to leave him alone for a bit.
He turned the pages till he got to one that looked different. Everything was written in red just like the front page, but this time looked less rushed. The first page was about Souda, but the picture looked very different. His outfit was pretty much the same minus the beanie and his jumper wasn’t zipped up all the way. No, what stuck out was his expression. Just looking at it sent chills down his spine. His eyes were a piercing red and his expression looked so deranged it was almost inhumane. He started to read the info under the picture and some of the categories had changed. It no longer listed things like his height and weight, instead it listed things that were honestly disturbing.
He read through Soudas file and the more he read, the sicker and more scared he felt. He wanted to throw the book away and burn it but instead he keeps reading and even moves on to read other pages, which made him feel worse and worse. That is… until he reaches Komaedas page. Komaeda looked different to say the least. His hair was longer, and he looked more mature like the others. He had a collar and chain around his neck as well as a red and black striped shirt. His eyes were red just like the others, but his expression was one he recognized far too well, even if it was a little different. The calm smile he always wore, granted it was a little crazier but not by much.
He realized he has been crying this whole time while reading and he only realized it as he cried harder while reading Komaedas information.
Komaeda looked at Hinata with a mix of disgust and sympathy. He couldn’t get over how normal Hinata was, but he can’t imagine what Hinata is reading right now. He noticed the more Hinata read the worse he got at keeping himself together. Suddenly Hinata pauses at a page with a confused look. Komaeda watched as Hinatas face went from a look of pure confusion, to one of pure fear. He drops the file and start full on panicking and screaming.
Before Komaeda could stop himself, he ran over and started to comfort Hinata. He did the same thing Hinata did before as Hinata continued to scream that none of it was true.
After a little while Hinata was reduced to quiet sobs as he clutched onto Komaeda like a life source. Komaeda looks at the document. No matter how normal Hinata was, he can tell whatever is in that document is something that would wreck anyone.
Hinata looks up and his eyes widen when he realizes he was clinging to Komaeda. He pushed away and looked at Komaeda in pure fear. He curls into the corner and continues to sob. Komaeda looks at the abandoned document before walking over and picking it up.
Komaeda reads the entire doc and not long after he’s panicking far harder than Hinata could dream of achieving. Hinata sees Komaeda losing it and despite his better judgement after what he read, he crawls over and pulls Komaeda into a hug. It quickly became a crying session as Hinata tried to keep Komaeda and himself calm.
Nothing was going to be the same after this…