Work Text:
Nagito was sitting in the library reading a book. Things had calmed down a bit since the last class trial. He spent quite a long time in that library, nearly the whole day. That was until he heard an announcement startup.
Ding dong bing bong
“Attention Hope’s Peak Academy students, if you could please gather at the abandoned building on the third island, please do so at your earliest convenience,” Monokuma spoke over the monitors that riddled the island. Nagito didn't waste any time making his way over there. He was already on the island, there was nothing else to really do.
Once everyone gathered at the building, Monokuma popped up out of nowhere as usual.
“So! I’ve gathered you all here today for anooother motiiiiive!” Monokuma announced, enthusiastic as ever.
Reactions from the crowd ranged from unimpressed, to pure anger. Nobody seemed happy about this situation, wondering what they were gonna have to do this time.
“Come ooooon, at least pretend to be excited! Anyway, you guys are all gonna go into this building!” Monokuma explained. Everyone seemed confused by how simple this motive was, wondering how much more to this there was. They didn't bother questioning Monokuma at this point, so they all just headed inside.
The moment he stepped into the building, Nagito felt his chest tighten significantly and was short of breath. He summed it up to his cancer acting up again, as nobody else seemed to be affected by this.
Nagito figured he would explore the building a little bit to potentially find something, whatever the motive was supposed to be. However, the further he walked, the worse the pressure in his chest and the shorter of breath he suffered. He felt like he was surrounded by people, even though everyone else was exploring somewhere else.
He noticed his mind start to just…fog. There was an overwhelming sense of heaviness that he wouldn't’ve been able to describe even if he tried.
Snap.
Nagito stood. There were people all around him. People he’d never seen before.
“You need to leave.”
“Leave or I’ll hurt your friends.”
“You don't have permission to be here.”
The people all spoke to him at once. Eventually, one of them came closer to Nagito, grabbing his neck.
“L e a v e .”
Snap.
Nagito was on the floor, his head spinning. He couldn't see the people anymore, but he still felt the cold, heavy presence of them. He got up and brushed the dirt off of himself.
He needed to warn the others. He could tell they weren't alone in this building. He scrambled his way all over the building, trying to find someone. Anyone.
He eventually slammed open a door, and inside was Kazuichi. Kazuichi turned back to look at him, noticing the beads of sweat falling from Nagito’s forehead.
“Um… you good, dude? Did you… why am I even talking to you? It’s probably just gonna be something weird,” Kazuichi continued to search on his own. Nagito hesitated before yelling out.
“I…I’m telling you! There's something dangerous in here! I know you’re probably very inconvenienced to hear news from someone like me, but I promise to you that it's the truth!” Nagito warned Kazuichi. Upon saying that, it got heavier. More intense.
Kazuichi looked very confused. He probably thought he was going insane at that point, more than he already was. He took what Nagito said with a grain of salt and continued his search.
Nagito really wanted to convince Kazuichi that something was off, but it was no use. After all, who was someone like him to bother the Ultimate Mechanic like that?
He just left the room and sat against a wall. He figured nobody would want to hear what he was saying; nobody would believe him. But… he had to warn them for hope.
He stood once more, the heaviness not subsiding at all. As he walked around the building some more, he saw a small box on a table. The more he moved toward it, the heavier everything got. Once he made it to the box, he felt this entire overwhelming heaviness that couldn't compare to the rest of the building. He had to walk away. He just couldn't take it.
Once he moved away from the box, the heaviness subsided to how it was before. There was something seriously strong attached to that box. He tried once more to go over to the box. He needed to open it. There could've been something to assist the people on that island to make their way to the path of hope.
He placed his fingers on the lid of the box, propping it open. Inside the little wooden box with the hinges was a very small baby toy. Small enough for the baby to choke on it. He picked it up, to which he felt something strong. It caused him to yell out and fall back.
He quickly put the toy back in the box and closed the lid. He needed to leave it how it was for when the next person found it.
He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he had to try and convince everyone else. He made his way back to the main area, where he found everyone else gathered.
“Oh, there you are, Nagito,” Hajime pointed out. It seemed like they were discussing what they'd found in the building. Nagito soon joined them in their discussion.
Everyone's investigations weren't very helpful. No one had found anything. No one besides Nagito, that is. Nagito knew he had to at least try and explain everything he’d experienced.
“Well… I know none of you would want to hear from me, but I did find some stuff…,” Nagito put it out there. There were various sighs from the crowd. They honestly didn't trust anything Nagito had to say. “I think there's some paranormal activity in this building… Not only do I feel weird in this building alone, but I passed out from the symptoms and had a dream with people I’ve never seen before telling me to leave and threatening me and you guys. It might be best if we leave while we can, I’m not sure of what they're capable of,” Nagito reported.
Everyone looked at him like he was the craziest person they'd ever seen.
“Ummm, no??? Ghosts aren't real, ya dummy!” Hiyoko contradicted Nagito’s words.
“Yeah, if ghosts were real, why haven't we seen Byakuya or Teruteru? Or Mahiru or Peko?” Kazuichi agreed with Hiyoko. Nagito just kept his mouth shut.
“Hmm… why don't we just explore and try to find something again,” Hajime suggested. Everyone just parted ways again to go explore some more.
Nagito just decided to try and find the motive like everyone else. He made his way through areas of the building he hadn't been to yet.
When he turned into a hallway, he saw two faint figures at the end of the hall for a split second. After they faded, he felt something cold on his cheeks and a sort of squeezing feeling. He had no idea what the ghosts in this area were trying to do.
Suddenly, they appeared in his vision once again. A man and a woman. They were familiar. Too familiar.
“M…mom? Dad?” He stepped back as the images disappeared once more. He found himself sitting on the ground, curled up.
He began to shake as heavy tears formed in his eyes. He just sat there on the ground shaking and crying very quietly. He couldn't steady his breathing no matter how hard he tried. He stayed there like that for what felt like an eternity.
It eventually came time for another meeting to try and find out what the new motive was. Once again, nothing. All they had was Nagito’s paranormal stories.
As they continued to argue on and on about the existence of spirits, something occurred.
It consisted of 11 people standing and 1 person on the ground. They stared at Nagito as he was on his knees, torso bent over them with his hands gripping his head.
They heard various sounds coming from him, most notably his heavy breathing. His breathing slowly transformed into a laugh. He sat up, hands still gripping his head.
He had that same look on his face during that first trial, his maniacal laugh not changing one bit. Upon hearing his laugh, everyone immediately got right out of there. Everyone except Hajime.
Hajime stood frozen in front of Nagito; he couldn't move at all. At this point, Nagito was gripping a wall.
“N…Nagito, what's gotten into you?!” Hajime managed to let out. Nagito began to laugh.
Everyone else was trying to figure out what to do when they noticed that Hajime wasn't with them. They immediately knew he stayed back there.
A loud scream broke through their conversations. They had to get Hajime.
Upon hurrying back to the main room, they saw two things on the ground. Hajime with a stab wound to the chest. And Nagito with a slit in his neck.
A body has been discovered!