Chapter Text
Hospitals. Yet again. But this time, to pay visits, a whole bunch of them.
Hajime had handed the Polterbullet RL to the medical department. They proceeded to separate the lost spirits and the ghosts, turning said spirits back to the comatose patients and exorcising the phantom (which he assisted too, and again, that ghost looked way too happy at her second death).
After a few days, the patients had recovered enough to be capable of movement and speech. All of them had actually requested a talk with Hajime personally. The brunet never had to hold a conversation with such a wide ragtag bunch of misfits.
Kazuichi Soda was quite spiteful that Hajime made him eat the floor, but he couldn’t help but find the way he caught rather cool. He was searching for a new job, and the sight of the Polterbullet RL made him want to cry in awe, so he considered taking a job in paranormal mechanism.
Teruteru Hanamura… flirted all the way through. But, he had also made some on the spots snacks that were absolutely heavenly. So Hajime was willing to tolerate the antics to feel that sweetness on his tongue again.
Hiyoko Saionji was a brat, even more than her interviews showed. But, she handed the brunet tickets for her next already scheduled performance (at least she seemed very serious about her job). Hajime accepted the offer.
“Impostor” spent the whole conversation hidden within the blankets. Nonetheless, he gave Hajime his humble thanks for the save, and found his tactic rather bold. The brunet could only laugh at himself for his slight act of arson.
Mikan Tsumiki was a mess. She apologized deeply for all the trouble she had caused and giving the ghostbuster such a scare back then. Hajime said he didn’t mind. Then she apologized for falling on him, and he almost said again that he didn’t mind again. That would’ve come out very wrong… He ended up giving her a headpat to calm her down, which seemed to do the trick.
Mahiru Koizumi had now enough blackmail material on Hajime to make him into her damn dog thanks to the pack of pictures she had gotten from her ghost. The brunet begged her not to post any of it anywhere, which she acquiesced, it would be a memory of this very weird night. It also helped her get over a slump she had apparently been stuck in, inspiration was back into her system. Also now Hajime had a backup job as a model if he needed to.
Akane Owari and Nekomaru Nidai were already out of their rooms brawling in the hospital garden. Both were very impressed with how Hajime ahd beaten them in combat, Owari seemed especially eager to fight him again… Nidai proposed to trian the brunet, and as someone who had learned to not skip gym day, Hajime considered the offer.
Sonia Nevermind was eager to speak to the brunet, she wanted every gritty detail about ghostbusting, finding the profession extremely interesting. Hajime felt a bit uncomfortable over becoming her new hyperfixation, but their talk was surprisingly pleasant.
Ibuki Mioda was just as hyper as her spirit, eager to touch any instrument she could get her hands on. She was also eager to play with Hajime again, reminding him she also had blackmail material over his dancing stunts. She gave him a signed CD album, Hajime planned on giving her music a new try with it.
He thought Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu and Peko Pekoyama were going to rip out his face, but both were graceful in their loss back in the hotel,impressed by his skills. And if Hajime ever needed someone “gotten rid off” he could call them up as Kuzuryu felt he owed Hajime for saving his spirit. The brunet was terrified.
Gundham Tanaka was exactly as Hajime predicted, and his first reaction upon seeing the ghostbuster was to call him “The Spiked-One” and a “Worthy Opponent”. Hajime had no idea what he was on about, but Tanaka’s hamsters were damn cute.
And finally, there was Hajime in front of the hospital room of one Nagito Komaeda. He prepared himself for this, he took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Within was the same type of hospital room Hajime had seen all day, and the white haired man in question was silently laying down on the bed in a hospital gown, reading some kind of thick book. The brunet had to keep himself focused to not let himself be distracted, because he had to admit, this guy was damn pretty. Curse Hajime’s bisexual heart.
The brunet came in and shut the door, before knocking on it, as a way to get the other’s attention.
Komaeda turned his head towards the brunet, silence ensued with the both of them immobile and their expressions neutral. Hajime took a breath to introduce himself afterwards;
But before he could do anything, Komaeda gasped, and then threw himself on the floor, slamming his head against the ground in an apologetic gesture. The noise when his forehead struck the floor indicated that it must’ve really hurt.
“Whoa-!?” Hajime took a step back and the sudden overwhelming reaction.
Face still on the floor, the white haired man told his apologies. “There are no words to express how guilty I feel over what I did to you! I totally understand why you hate me! I’m an awful person! Please sue me for sexual harassment!”
“Wowowow alright-” The brunet put his hand in front of him in a calming gesture. “Let’s calm down here! And get up! You don’t have to grovel before me!”
Komaeda got up in a flash, his eyes were strangely dark, but quite panicked at the same time. The sweat rolling down his forehead wasn’t helping that look.
“Let’s just… talk. Can you listen to me?” The ghostbuster let out an awkward smile.
Komaeda sat on the floor like a child about to be scolded by their mother. Guess he couldn’t force him to stay up.
“Okay…” The brunet let out a sigh. “I don’t hate you and I’m not going to sue you. You were doing those… things while under the influence during your ghostification. You couldn’t control yourself, and I don’t hold a grudge.”
The white haired man looked up to him in disbelief.
“Yes I mean that.” Hajime punctuated. However, he felt like he needed to give more proof of that. He thought back to those shenanigans, and what he did on the 13th floor to catch the lost spirit rang loudly in his mind, making his heartbeat pick up.
Because it just so happened that damn moment was playing on repeat in his brain for days now, and he really needed to externalize it.
“And also…” Hajime cleared his throat to conserve whatever business-like seriousness he had. He had to look away, he refused to look the other in the eye while whispering out the next sentence. “I… kinda enjoyed the attention. And played along. Just a bit.” If making out counted as “just a bit”.
The both of them were evading each other’s gaze, the color red invading their faces. Komaeda became even more of a mess, sweat sliding from every side of him.
Hajime just made the situation worse wasn’t it? He needed to say something to dissipate the awkwardness. “Actually, why did you act like that in the first place?” He immediately bit his lip and cursed himself. No Hajime you moron! That was the worst thing you could say!
The white haired man shifted uncomfortably on the floor, scrambling for a constructed answer. “It’s only fair I give you an explanation…” He cleared his throat as well, recovering from his messy appearance for a more composed and calm voice. “I’m sure you already figured out the basics behind it at least.”
The obvious crush? Yes, thanks to Chiaki. “Huh-huh…” The brunet nodded.
Komaeda continued his story. “You’re handsome and courageous, you did not hesitate to confront me. You were a shining beacon of hope in this dark night. The more you fought, the more you shined and the more obsessed I became, you were…” He coughed and looked to the side, blushing furiously, but still keeping the calming soothing of his voice. “Really beautiful…”
Hajime was internally dying. He occupied his hands by adjusting his tie and looking everywhere but at the guy in front of him professing his attraction. Was this a forced loss battle?
And Komaeda went on. “I could hear your conversations with your friend, you had a cute dorky side on top of everything, and even right now you are being so understanding towards me… All of it just… made me blow over I guess you could say.”
Staring at the floor, the brunet was biting his lip so hard he could taste just a bit of blood. There was so much heat on his face he thought he was going to faint.
Komaeda waved his hand. “I won’t ask you for any forgiveness, for I do not deserve it.”
“I told you I don’t hold it against you…” Another question raised from within the back of the brunet’s brain, his curiosity won against his rationality, and he blurted it out. “Are you still..?” Hajime waved his hand between himself and the other, very obviously pointing out what he was implying.
Komaeda simply nodded with a smile.
Hajime swallowed a very loud gasp.
So he was still enamoured with him. Okay. Alright. Hajime could deal with that. Not.
In a split of a second, his brain did all kinds of loops to rationalize his situation, and by the end, he reached only a single conclusion.
He fished inside his pocket for his notepad and pen, and scribbled on one of the pages before ripping it off, and handing it to Komaeda.
The white haired man took it and deciphered the scribbles. It was a phone number. From the speck of drool that leaked out of Komaeda’s closed mouth, Hajime could tell he was pretty shocked.
The brunet wanted to make his escape quick, and so started walking to the door while stitching together an explanation. “You don’t seem like a bad guy, and while you’re far less sane than I thought you would be, I-I’ll give you a fair chance alright? I mean we didn’t exactly meet under the best conditions and all, s-so, feel free to- you know- call. If you want to, that is.” He coughed and opened the door. “I need to go to work… I-I’ll see you around, okay?” He showed a shy smile.
Komaeda let out a nervous grin, coupled with his fiery face color and waterfall on his forehead. “O-okay.”
“See ya.”
Hajime left and closed the door behind him, walked a way in the corridor, before slumping against the wall and letting out a very, very relieved sigh. This conversation was agony, but at least it was over and done with. Guess he just needed to tell Chiaki to tell her he was going back to HQ-
As he reached for his phone, something, a loud scream echoed from the room Hajime just left. And not just any scream, a scream of victory.
Looked like someone was happy with that conversation at least.
Hajime sent the longest text to Chiaki telling her about his day. And she answered with this:
> The Hajime used his Special Skill
> Big Heartedness 2H
< 2H?
> It stands for Hajime Hinata
He would take the compliment.
His phone vibrated again, this time, showing an unknown number.
Well, guess that same someone had also herited more guts from his ghastly trip.