Chapter Text
“Damn… that’s seven times now.” Placing his handheld system onto his lap, Hajime let out a sigh of playful frustration looking at the words ‘K.O.’ displayed on the screen.
“Yeah… but you’ve definitely gotten better… I think.” Deftly using the joystick to vote for a rematch, Chiaki tilted her head towards Hajime with a modest smile. “I almost lost that time.”
Hajime chuckled as he selected rematch, the announcer cheered from the speakers, signalling for the next match to begin. It’s been just over a month and a half since the fateful encounter between the two teens, how the simple topic of Gala Omega turned two strangers into inseparable friends. Today was just like any other, sitting on the oak bench in front of the fountain were they both met, playing video games.
As the words ‘K.O.’ reappeared on screen, Hajime gave a wry smile. “Eight.”
Puffing out her cheeks, Chiaki put down her handheld. “I don’t think you should be counting every defeat.”
“I know, I know.” Hajime reached out an arm and placed his hand on top of the gamers pale mauve hair, giving it a small rustle. “I’m just counting to the day of my victory.” He smirked, continuing his hand movement for a few more seconds before retracting his hand.
Cheeked still puffed, Chiaki lowers her head trying to focus on her character selection for the next fight. “You’ll pay for that…”
Hajime opened his mouth to retort, but an 8-bit message tone resonated from next to Chiaki, interrupting his vocals. Glancing to his left, the girl next to him pulled out a mobile phone with a pink case covered in chibi stickers. Chiaki began to fiddle with the device, her face changing subtly every so often with each new notification noise that left the mobile’s speakers. While curious, Hajime didn’t say anything since it wasn’t his business.
“Sorry about that.” Chiaki spoke, returning her phone into one of her hoodie’s pockets. “One of my classmates began asking for opinions on something in our group chat.”
“Group chat?” Hajime raised an eyebrow as he responded.
“Yeah, our homeroom teacher thought of ways for us to get along…” Chiaki began to fiddle with her hoodies zip. “It’s really fun, but I’m the only moderator since I’m the class rep and… things can get out of hand.” A small smile graced her lips as she spoke.
“Considering that your class is full of Ultimates… I’m not surprised it’s hectic.” Hajime scratched his cheek with an awkward smile. “It does sound fun though.”
Turning to face Hajime, Chiaki scooted closer towards him, something the brown-haired boy wasn’t prepared for. “Would you… like to join?”
“Huh…?” That was out of left field Hajime thought. “Why though? Isn’t it just for your class?”
Chiaki stared straight at the boy in front of her. “I’m sure if I ask, they’d be okay with it… I’m positive you would get along with them.”
“Well… even so, what app is your chat in?” Hajime proceeded to pull out his phone, a simple model that does the job. “I might not even have it.”
In response to Hajime’s question, Chiaki simply pulled out her phone again and flashed the app screen. “It’s this one.”
“Hmmm… nah, I don’t have that app.” Hajime loosely shook his head and began to return his phone to his trouser pocket, however Chiaki swiftly snatched it before he could. “Oi! What the heck!?”
“I’m getting the app and making an account for you.” Her fingers expertly began to tap the touch screen. “Even if you don’t join my class’s chat… I can still add you on it.”
About to counter her actions, Hajime stopped himself. Was it so bad that she wanted to do this? It wouldn’t hurt, surely. But what if her classmates don’t like him? It was amazing that an Ultimate student was his friend in the first place, best friend he would even dare to say. However, the rest of Chiaki’s class aren’t like her from what he could gather from their conversations. The reserve course isn’t great either, they’re looked down on. Wouldn’t her classmates do the same? Why woul-
“Hinata–kun, I’m finished.” Chiaki’s voice snapped Hajime out of his trance, looking to his left was his phone resting in the palm of her pale hand. Worrying about this wasn’t going to do anything.
“You better not have given me a weird name.” Hajime said jokingly as he took his phone back. The chatting app home screen displayed a list (which was currently empty) of chatroom names. There was a drop-down option on the left which allowed for quick access to a friends list, pending invites and options. At the top was the username Chiaki had given him.
“’Ultimate… best friend?’” Probing Chiaki, Hajime spoke. “Is that my account name?”
Immediately the girl threw her hood over her head, cheeks tinted a light pink. “…yeah…”. She then pulled the cords of her hoodie. “Is… is it bad…?” She squeaked timidly. Hajime’s tension left him as he noticed her shyness, it was adorable.
“No, it’s fine… I’m just surprised.” Giving a reassuring nod, Hajime began to check through the settings and other options that were available.
“I’ll ask them all now to see if you can join… before I forget.” Not one second after she finished speaking her hands started rapid firing against her phone's touch screen. Hajime’s eyes widened, she was typing a lot faster than she was before. Following Chiaki’s fingertips were notification noises one after another in quick succession as they pinged from her mobile, her face slackened into a teeny smile. “Most of them said it was okay… a few people are offline, but I’m confident they would have said yes anyway.” Turning to face the brunette, Chiaki motioned for him to get his phone ready.
“You haven’t added me yet.” Hajime said in a flat tone, causing a minuscule ‘ah’ to leave the gamers mouth. Vibrations came from Hajime’s hand, turning to look at his phone, a green number one was situated next to his pending invites.
“So, your name is ‘Gaming Gala #1’? Is it a Gala Omega reference?” Hajime asked as he pressed ‘accept friend request’.
Chiaki simply nods. “Yep, however you can use nicknames in the chatroom, so I’m not called that there.”
“Hoh, I wonder what nickname you have…” Rubbing his chin dramatically, Hajime gave the girl a knowing look.
“You’ll find out when you join.” Missing the notion of Hajime’s actions, Chiaki kept typing. Another vibration caught Hajime’s attention, the app displayed another notification message reading, ‘You have been invited to join “77 – B’s Room of Chatting”’. Staring at the pop up, Hajime began move his finger towards ‘accept’, but then stopped. Unease creeped itself into the spiky haired boys’ thoughts, making his outstretched finger tremble.
Would none of her class ridicule him? He trusted Chiaki one hundred percent, but he doesn’t know about the rest of her class.
“It’ll be okay Hinata–kun, you just gotta do it.” Chiaki tried to reassure her best friend, fist bumping the air. Turning from the gamer, Hajime took a deep breath and tapped ‘accept’.
- Ult. best friend has joined the room-
[Gamer Goddess]: This is my friend everyone!
[Ult. Best friend]: Hello.
[Drunk with Punk]: OOOOOOHHH!! So this is your bestest friend Chiaki–chan!? Awesome!! Nice to meet you best friend! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
[Ult. Best friend]: Same, nice to meet you.
‘Whoever this is, they’re a bundle of energy.’ Hajime thought to himself.
[Shark Oil]: Yo! Nanami’s said some pretty cool things about you man, hope things don’t get too hectic for yah! Nice to meetcha!
[Demon Dancer]: HA! You spent all that time thinking and that’s all you’ve got?
[Shark Oil]: Hey why have you got to ruin this for me!?
[Demon Dancer]: Because it’s funny
[Shark Oil]: CMON REALLY!?
A sweat drop rolled down Hajime’s cheek.
[Ult. Best friend]: Umm, nice to meet you both.
[Drunk with Punk]: Ignore the demon, she’s mean to everyone except for our red headed mom!! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ
[Dancing Demon]: You don’t get to say that goth girl!
[Drunk with Punk]: SEEEE!!?!? ⊂•⊃_⊂•⊃ Ibukis not even goth!!!
[Gaming Goddess]: C’mon you guys, stop it please…
[Polaroid Mom]: Hiyoko–chan, you aren’t making a good first impression.
[Demon Dancer]: I don’t see why I have to
“I can see why they’re nicknamed ‘demon’.” Hajime said out loud, earning a small chuckle from Chiaki.
[Polaroid Mom]: Chiaki–chan wants us to meet her friend, it’s basic manners. Plus, she never really asks for anything, it would be rude.
[Gaming Goddess]: Thank you Koizumi–san :)
Hajime let a little chortle. “Polaroid really is like a mom.”
[Ult. Best friend]: No need to go out your way to accommodate me, I’ll live. Thanks though.
[Royal Otaku]: Oh my goodness! Hello Nanami–sans friend, I’m sorry I could not greet you straight away!
[Shark Oil]: Hi Sonia–san!
[Ult. Best friend]: No problem, nice to meet you.
[Royal Otaku]: It is nice to meet you as well!
[Drunk with Punk]: Daaaaaaaaaaaanggg!! Kazuichi–chan got ghosted again!
[Demon Dancer]: Nothing new, he’s always been pathetic
[Shark Oil]: HEY THAT AIN’T TRUE! Right Sonia–san?
[Royal Otaku]: {@Overlord of Ice} Tanaka–san, Nanami–san’s friend has joined our chatroom!
[Demon Dancer]: You were saying shark breath?
“Is it always like this for… shark oil…?” Hajime faced Chiaki, who appeared to be monitoring the chatroom. “I feel a little bad.”
“Not always… but it’s pretty much a routine at this point.” Not taking her eyes away from her phone, Chiaki yawned in response.
‘That doesn’t make it any better…’ Hajime retorted in his mind.
[Overlord of Ice]: Another mortal has entered this labyrinth? What a brave soul, I must commend them for their courage. Welcome.
[Ult. Best friend]: Umm, thanks? Nice to meet you.
‘Odd way of talking but doesn’t seem like a bad person at least’. Hajime thought to himself.
[Hope Addict]: Ah, Nanami–san’s friend! It’s nice to meet you!
[Shark Oil]: Great… he’s here
[Hope Addict]: Am I ruining things again?
[Gaming Goddess]: No… stop talking like that
[Hope Addict]: I don’t deserve your kindness Nanami–san.
“What’s with the self-deprecation…?” Hajime questioned the gamer.
Chiaki pondered for a moment before speaking. "Well… he doesn't really view himself as an Ultimate student, it's odd, but he's still our friend."
Hajime wasn't satisfied with the answer he was given, but didn't press on. As more messages continued to flow through the chat, Hajime read through the introductions again, there was something… something nagging at him in the back of his mind. As if he was forgetting a person or… people? His brow was furrowed as he thought, until a different notification noise sounded from his phone. Tapping a glowing green bubble with a one inside, he found a friend request from 'Black cherry #3' and that feeling of him missing something only grew.
"Hinata-kun, are you okay?" Chiaki’s voice broke the brunette’s concentration, causing him to sputter for a second.
"Y-Yeah… just thinking about… things." Rubbing the back of his neck, Hajime went back to looking at the group chat to see that he had received a targeted message from 'Hope addict'.
[Hope Addict]: {@Ult. best friend} Could we learn your name? I'm eager to find out the person our class rep holds in high regards!
Hajime blinked at what he read. "High regards…?" He whispered to himself while glancing at the girl next to him. Chiaki must have been putting in good words for him for some reason, it made his cheeks light up a little bit from the idea.
'Can't let Nanami down if she has been doing that.' Steeling himself, Hajime put fingers to screen.
[Ult. Best friend]: Sure, I'm Hajime Hinata and once again it's nice to meet you all, well everyone who is online at least.
Glancing toward Chiaki, Hajime gave an awkward smile. “I hope that wasn’t too formal.”
Chiaki began to giggle while prepping her handheld. “It should be fine, ready to play again?”
Beginning to ready his console as well, Hajime gave a nod until his phone began to spit out one notification after the next for the group chat, accompanied by Chiaki’s 8 bit message tone. Raising an eyebrow, the brunette viewed the chat and saw a plethora of message’s all saying roughly the same thing, posted at the same time.
[Drunk with Punk]: Hajime-chan, Ibuki needs you to send a picture of yourself, like… RIIIIGHT NOWWWW!!!!!
[Overlord of Ice]: I wish to see a visage of you mortal, my curiosity demands it.
[Shark Oil]: What the hell!? Can you send a picture? I need to check something
[Demon Dancer]: There’s no way you can be, but you need to send a picture of yourself or you won’t want to know whats gonna happen to you
[Royal Otaku]: I do apologise and this might come across as strange, however I wish to see a portrait of you if that is possible?
[Hope Addict]: Is there a chance you could post a picture of yourself? I understand if this is odd, but I want to make sure of something.
[Polaroid Mom]: Hinata-kun could you send a quick photo of yourself to the chat?
“What the hell...?” Hajime’s mind recoiled at what had just happened, the Ultimate students, Chiaki’s friends, wanted to see a picture of him? Why? Still staring at his phone, Hajime saw the chatroom members beginning to question why everyone else wanted to see him as well.
“Hinata-kun.” Once again the voice of Chikai struck him out of his stupor, causing Hajime to spin around to face his friend, but was met with a blinding flash of light and a click. “You’re pretty photogenic, you know.” A snort followed the statement.
Rubbing his eyes, Hajime gave Chiaki an incredulous look. “Did you take a photo of me? Don’t tell me you're about to post it in the chat?” A hint of nervousness tinted the reserve course students' tone.
“Only if you want to, but I don’t see the harm.” The gamer put a finger to her chin. “Plus, it’s weird that everyone that’s online said it at the same time. I kind of want to know why, don’t you?”
“It really is weird…” Hajime let out a small breath, taking a moment to think before he spoke again. “Okay, you can send it… I want to find out why that just happened.” Giving a nod after he spoke, Hajime returned his console to it’s prior position and held his mobile with anticipation. Just what do these Ultimates want from him?
“I've just sent it in.” Raising her head, Chaiki turned to face the brunette’s now hunched over form as he looked at his phone. “Let’s see what's going to happen next, Hinata-kun.”
“Yeah, let’s see...”