Chapter Text
"Come on already, I'm getting cold!"
The cry of a girl did not bring Nagito's gaze to attention. The only thing attracting his eyes at that moment was the tall gates before him, iron-built, and icy to the very touch.
The boy exhaled a soft puff of a chilling cloud as the sky cried a drizzle upon the school grounds.
The students around him all seemed excited, yet impatient, curious as to why the gates of the school were not yet open for the students to enter.
First, it was the Ultimates, for which he certainly had no right to even look up to their eyes let alone say good morning as they shared their greetings.
Yet as time passed, the reserve course students found their way to the court, just as confused as everyone else was.
The boy beside him looked down to his watch before he scoffed,
"Exactly thirty-seven minutes after the bell should have rung and I don't see anyone! Did the Principal forget to make us aware of a holiday?"
"That can't be it," Another shorter boy muttered from nearby, "Our teachers wouldn't just forget something like that, this is supposed to be the most prestigious school in the world."
Chatter swept across the courtyard, only to finally be interrupted as flashing lights pulled Nagito's attention to look back, where a police car had pulled up to the grounds.
Stepping out of the car was an officer, followed by the principal himself.
What was going on?
It seemed wisest to keep quiet and wait for an explanation first, and he didn't seem to be the only one that shared that thought as almost everyone remained eerily quiet.
"Alright everyone, I'm sorry, but you can go home today,"
Jin bowed his head apologetically,
"There were some unforeseen circumstances last night and the school staff needs to get it sorted out. Your parents will all be contacted when it's safe to return to classes."
"Safe?" A girl hushed,
"What does he mean 'safe'?"
"What happened to close the entire school?"
The Principal's face twisted uncomfortably before he cleared his throat,
"Now now, no need to worry, just head home for the day."
The officer ushered a motion with his hands, filing the students out of the courtyard.
That was it? He wouldn't even tell the students?
Then again, it wasn't as though Nagito was just entitled to that information, he was lucky to even be attending the school, to begin with, it seemed the best course of action was to simply do as he was told and return home.
"Don't forget to do your work though, I will be emailing it to everyone this afternoon!"
Jin made sure to call out, but his voice was already becoming distant.
Curiosity nagged at him as he started down the sidewalk, but was quickly interrupted as someone suddenly threw an arm over his shoulder,
"Eyy, Komaeda, you going this way?"
He found himself looking into the goofy grin of Kazuchi, his classmate, and the Ultimate Mechanic.
"Yeah," A forced smile was returned, which Nagito could only hope wasn't called out. "My house is this way after all. You don't usually go this way with me, are you wanting to talk?"
"Kinda," Looking away, the guy lowered his arm, returning that personal space, "It's all weird as hell, so we were planning to get together later and see if Chihiro can get into the school files and find an answer if you wanted to come along or something like that."
"Are you sure?" As he cocked his head, Nagito's fluffy hair ticked his own nose, which he brushed away quickly, "You could get into a lot of trouble for something like that."
"What are they gonna do to us? They can't exactly kick out all the Ultimates they have!" Kazuichi chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Anyway, Mahiru kinda made me come to ask you so it's up to you I guess? We'll shoot you a text later on when we're ready to get together and give it a shot."
"How did you get my-" He began to ask but stopped himself quickly. Of course, Chihiro, Ultimate Programmer, he would probably have some tricks up his sleeve to get everyone's phone number. Shaking his head to force a change of thought, Nagito brightened his smile, a bit more real this time.
He was really being invited to an outing with everyone?
They really didn't need to invite someone like him. Nagito barely qualified as an ultimate student, not nearly on everyone else's level!
"I would be happy to, thank you Kazuichi!"
"Yeah yeah..." The mechanic avoided meeting his eyes before turning and hurrying off once more, leaving Nagito on his own.
Honestly, he could have been hit by a semi-truck and still been having a good day with how happy he was feeling just then. A real invitation!
Straightening his posture, the student moved on with more confidence. The walk to his home was a bit far, but it wasn't a walk he totally minded taking either.
Seeing the sights of the town was always pretty nice. The colorful leaves, the voices of the people, the... Homeless people?
No, the person he suddenly saw lying half-hidden in a bush was dressed much too noticeable to be homeless.
Well, he did only see legs but they were very nice legs covered with what looked like a hospital gown over them.
"Hello?" He tried to call from the sidewalk, only to receive no reply. Ever so carefully, he moved closer and reached out towards the bush before stopping himself.
Nagito knew his own luck was dangerous, what if there was a deadly spider inside waiting to bite or a thorn he didn't see?
No, he had to help this person, even if he got hurt, they looked like they needed it.
Swallowing back his fears, he pushed the branches of the bush aside, and his breath nearly stopped right then and there.
His eyes landed upon a gentle, beautiful sleeping face of a mysterious man, with long hair tangled around the bush.
Did he simply collapse? What an unfortunate place to fall asleep.
As the student leaned down and placed a hand on his shoulder, about to wake him, the sudden touch of cold and wet caused Nagito to recoil.
Well, that explained a lot, the stranger probably attempted to use the bush as a shield from the rain the night before, and still going this morning.
Was he even still alive?
He found himself holding his own breath while staring at the stranger's chest waiting for movement. Without realizing it, he had been counting the seconds within his mind, only exhaling when the man did the same.
Well, he wasn't dead yet at least.
"Are you... Okay?" He tried, receiving no response.
Komaeda then tried to look around for anyone that could help but it seemed after a quick glance, he was the only person in the area now.
He really didn't seem to have a choice now, did he? He truly was unlucky.
Not that he would just let a person die, he course he would have to help, it was only right, even if they weren't someone talented or amazing, it was still a life.
Reaching into the bush, Nagito ever so carefully started untangling the man's long hair from the branches as best he could without tearing any strands.
Maybe he was a product model? With such soft, long hair like his, what was stopping him?
After what seemed like minutes of undoing what he could, he tried again to wake the stranger and shook his shoulder,
"S-Sir," He attempted, "Are you okay? Hello?"
He wasn't really going to carry a grown man all the way to his house now, was he?
Well, he didn't actually know his age, but he did look like he would've been a decent weight for someone like Nagito to pull with him.
After yet another lack of reply, he finally sighed and gave in, reaching in to pull the stranger up and heave an arm around his own shoulder as best he could.
He probably looked like he was carrying a dead body of a hospital patient, and the weight of the guy felt like a dead weight too, but he came this far already!
Before he began walking, he checked once more for breathing, for which there still was.
Either this guy was the heaviest sleeper in the world, or really got knocked out cold when he collapsed in the bush.
If he woke up though, it would've been great for him to walk on his own, and it was still a decent way from Komaeda's house now.
It didn't seem like he would be able to make it to the meeting later if the stranger needed more help than a new change of clothes and maybe a shower.
He really did have the worst luck, now didn't he?
And yet, Nagito really didn't mind this bad luck all too much.
The beautiful face was difficult to tear his eyes away from, and his skin was as soft as a blanket.
Swallowing, he physically needed to make himself look ahead and not ogle at a stranger like some creep.
"I hope you'll be worth all this trouble," He muttered aloud in the struggle to pull him along.
It didn't take long for him to get lost in his own thoughts until carrying the man was simply an afterthought as Nagito began to adjust to the weight.
Luck had struck him once more as almost no cars drove by and the few that did had no interest or maybe thought he was helping a drunken friend.
For whatever reason, nobody stopped him from simply carrying the stranger to his house.
With a bit of a struggle to pull the key from his pocket without dropping the guy, he managed to unlock his door and quickly bring him to the couch to lay down.
But now that there was a mysterious guy asleep on his couch, it quickly hit Komaeda that he had no idea what he was going to actually do to help.
Clothes maybe, for a first.
Well, he had time to prepare and try waking him later.