Chapter Text
The two Ultimates walk out of the café with comforting silence shrouding them. A soft smile graces Komaeda’s features unknowingly, masking his inner turmoil. The urge to laugh hysterically and sob at the same time overrides his emotions like a plane crash, twisting and turning his insides into a confused mush. His tongue is left with an unpleasant tingly feeling from gulping down his tea too fast while it was still burning hot. A dull ache settles in his throat from the accidental asphyxiation he gained from drinking it too fast.
But he doesn’t care, not really. Komaeda’s too busy whirring the cogs in his brain to process the words Hinata had said a few minutes ago.
We’re friends, aren’t we?
Of course, said injuries in his throat and on his tongue occurred the moment these cursed words have been uttered, though Komaeda certainly didn’t make it known.
The concept of being friends with someone was still a wild concept to him. A myth, a legend! No one had ever been his friend before and it was a hard piece of information to grasp on to.
(Though Komaeda’s still hopelessly counting on the fact that all of this is a cruel joke so that he doesn’t have to deal with the thought of Hinata hating him once the Ultimate finds out. But then again, it is just his luck that Hinata could also hate him well before he finds out his secret, or maybe it’s just a disgustingly hopeless joke-)
“So, the park next?” The brunette shoots him a grin and he forgets how to breathe. “Or do you want to head back to campus?”
“Your choice!” Komaeda chirps. “I don’t really mind, Hinata-kun!”
(If I got a dollar for every time my name has been uttered from this mans mouth, Hinata thinks. I would be a rich man indeed.)
“I was thinking about working on our project. we might have all of two terms but that doesn’t mean we should procrastinate. Besides, I want to hear you sing again.”
“Again, the choice is-”
Hinata looks the albino dead in the eye, expression blank. “What do you want, Komaeda?”
He feels something heavy in his throat and has the urge to gulp it down. But knowing how absolutely perceptive the brunette is, Komaeda wouldn’t put it past him to think of him as a nervous and neurotic mess.
Diverting his eyes to anywhere other than Hinata’s face, he mumbles his answer. “We can work on the project.”
(It’s such a strange feeling to be asked what he wants.)
The brunette smiles, seemingly satisfied. “Back to Hope’s Peak it is.”
Turning on his heel, he walks back the way where they came from with Komaeda following not far behind.
The albino stays in his thoughts the entire way through, occasionally adding his surroundings to his mentalised notes but not really concentrating. The sharp throbbing from his chest prevents Komaeda from making any sharp move or bending down with shifting to a comfortable position. It also reminds him of the reckless mistake that he actually is.
Dazed from the sudden invitation to hang out, Komaeda had totally forgotten about the sloppily wrapped bandages and only changed out of his sleepwear - how embarrassing - and ran straight to Cafe. Now he had no chance to excuse himself to his room or else it would raise suspicions.
(Who in the right mind would change out of their own clothing into school ones?)
Suddenly, he’s jerked back by the arm and pain explodes throughout his entire upper body.
However, at that exact moment a truck whizzes by him, his fingers barely scraping across the metal lining of the vehicle.
“What the hell,” He hears Hinata breathe out. “How were you thinking so hard as to not notice a moving truck?!”
Komaeda blinks, stunned. “I’m- I’m sorry?”
“You’re apologising? For what - nearly dying?!”
“I’m not dead, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda says. “I was only mere seconds away from being severely injured.”
Hinata scoffs, sighing exasperatedly. His face is terrifyingly pale.
“Are you sick, Hinata-kun?” Komaeda asks, worry lacing his tone. “Would you like to go to the hospital?”
“Wha-? No! I’m not sick!” The brunette cries. batting the albino’s pale hand away from his face. “You nearly died!”
Komaeda opens his mouth to correct him but decides it would be far too rude. The brunette continues spluttering nonsensical words. “What the hell made you walk out like that?!”
“I was thinking.”
Mouth agape, the Ultimate stares at his friend flabbergasted. The two engage in a brief staring contest before the albino breaks the silence.
“…What the fuck, Komaeda.”
Said male frowns at the foul language. A memory flits across his brain but he throws it away.
“You’re not being serious, right?” The brunette asks, hysteria outlining his words. “You’re joking, yeah?”
“I don’t think I am.”
Bemused, Hinata inhales dramatically, swiping a hand down his face. “Let’s just - go. And forget about this incident.”
~
Reaching the gates of Hope’s Peak, a small question pops into Komaeda’s mind.
“Won’t Nanami-san and Kamukura-kun be angry at me?”
Hinata frowns.
(Komaeda doesn’t like seeing him frown.)
“No? Why would you think that?”
“For someone so talented and hopeful to be hanging out with someone as worthless as me… That’d get on their nerves, wouldn’t it?”
The brunette furrows his brows, opening his mouth to reply. “Hold on,” Hinata holds out a hand, speaking to the Head of Security and flashing his student ID. The man gives an affirming nod and opens the gate.
“To answer your question… Probably not.”
Probably not?!
“I’ve spent every second of my life from the day I was born with Izzy and the majority of it with Nanami and Naegi. I’m sure they wouldn’t get upset because I hung out with you for a day.”
(Hinata completely dismissed the comment about Komaeda referring to himself at ‘worthless’. He figured that he’ll deal with it later with Gekkogahara thank you very much.)
“Ah, please wait for me, Hinata-kun.” The albino requests as they reach the front door. “It shouldn’t be very long, but of course if you don’t want to waste your time then you are allowed to leave-”
The brunette shakes his head, shrugging. They had three whole months to complete the project. One extra minute wouldn’t hurt. “I’ll come with you, no worries.”
Komaeda smiles sweetly.
(Definitely not the reason why Hinata was now fully red.)
Unfortunately, things didn’t happen to turn out the way they had expected.
“I thought I’d find you here!” Yukizome’s voice echoes throughout the small opening, her smile widening in amusement as she sees Hinata and Komaeda struggling to balance an entire machine’s worth of soft drinks.
Saionji - it seems that half of the class had followed behind their teacher - loudly snickers, whispering something suggestive to Koizumi that made her gasp affronted.
“Hello, everyone.” Hinata greets, awkwardly waving but then dropping all his cans.
~
Dragging the Imposter along, Yukizome inwardly rejoices at her small victories in gathering the class together. She had been getting quite sick of the sight of a near-empty classroom and decided she had to put an end to it.
She walks by the fountain, hoping to catch the pink-haired Gamer before setting off on her journey to find the younger twin.
(God knows how hard he would be to track down.)
But there they were.
Nanami’s soft expression as she leaned into Kamukura with her console between her hands, nimble fingers tapping furiously. The soft breeze and setting sunlight shined on them, a golden halo swallowing them.
Kamukura - who hadn’t shown a bit of emotion ever since his first day - was wearing a contented expression, a hand rested in Nanami’s hair, while the other turned the pages of his book.
Both teenagers seemed totally comfortable in each other’s presence.
(And in all honesty, a feeling of nostalgia rushed through the teacher’s heart, reminding her of Munakata, Sakakura and herself when they were the same age.)
Yukizome sighs, smiling. “Back when I was their age,” She jokes but the smile is removed from her face when she catches the Imposter trying to escape from her peripheral vision.
“Oh, I’m not letting you get away again!”