Chapter Text
Mahiru's mouth was tugged down at the corners, as it tended to be when she was talking to Hajime these days. "I think those memories are precious, even if they were taken during that time. You can't judge them without even looking at them!"
Hiyoko, ever the vocal fan of the photographer, piped up. "Yeah, Mahiru took pictures of you ugly boys, too! Barf, she totally caught how you and Nagito - "
"Leave it for now." The red-haired girl sighed. "He'll look if he wants to. The prints will be in a file in the hotel office... So you can review them before we share them with everyone. Come on, Hiyoko, let's go see what's for dinner."
The girl wrinkled her nose. "Isn't Kazuichi cooking? What's the rush...?" He could hear her whining as they walked away towards the hotel.
He wondered about the pictures. Mahiru clearly loved them, but Hiyoko's comment gave him pause. How he and Nagito what, exactly? ... Perhaps the girls would win this round. His curiosity was getting the best of him, even though he hesitated to look through the memories of their time in the simulation. Apparently Mahiru had been able to get Chihiro to scrape the photos from the data before the AI returned to continue his work with the Future Foundation. Just recently, she'd talked Kazuichi into restoring a photo printer they'd had set up for tourists on the central island, and she'd been able to print the photos in real life.
He set off towards the hotel too, undecided if he'd be heading upstairs to eat some of Kazuichi's (admittedly dubious) cooking or to the office in the lobby to look at the photos. He couldn't really think of any particular moment he and Nagito had been photographed by Mahiru together - which meant either Hiyoko was telling a fib to get him to look at the pictures or Mahiru had put her paparazzi skills to work and stalked them from the bushes or something. Now he had to look, if only to discover the truth. Besides, Mahiru was right about one thing - who better to determine if the contents might be too much for the less-healed among them than the Ultimate Psychologist in him? He sighed. He sort of hated when she was right about things, she could get very smug about it.
The folder was on top of the cabinet instead of inside - good, if it disrupted Sagishi's file system the imposter would be irritated with him. He picked it up and flipped it open. The photos were stacked thick, probably at least fifty or so. These were apparently 'only the best ones'. He recognized some of them - she'd taken a photo of them all playing on the beach together, and the party photos. He didn't recognize the one under that - Nagito leaned over, whispering in his ear and covering his mouth with a hand while looking directly into the camera. His own eyes were closed, face in a thinly veiled grimace.
She must have taken this when he was introducing himself, while Nagito was filling him in on her 'discreetly'. Apparently neither of their high school selves had any sense of tact. He smiled at the laugh crinkling the edges of Nagito's eyes. He must have said something really stupid to prompt that. He couldn't quite remember what was going on in the photo, but he was willing to bet Mahiru was chewing him out.
The next few photos were ones he wasn't in - some photos of Hiyoko posing on the beach, of Sonia smiling at the sun, of Gundham cradling a hamster in his hands. There were a few landscape photos, too, but the simulated island's lushness looked as artificial as a lawn when compared to the real thing. He set those aside. Maybe later, those could confuse Nagito and Mikan - they both struggled to stay in the present at times. He sifted through them, thinking of ways to use these memories - maybe they could hang one of the group photos in the dining room? But a handful caught his eye: they were unusually rushed, blur evident. Why had Mahiru and Chihiro considered them some of the best?
The first one was of himself and Sagishi chatting while Nagito stared at him from some distance closer to the camera. The two of them were on the very edge of being out of focus, but what was in focus was Nagito's profile. His expression... He looked lost in thought. Upon closer inspection, Hajime could see the faint blush that tinted his cheeks.
He could see why she liked this one. Nagito looked happy here. The color made him look... lively.
The next photo was of him. In the background, a very blurry puff of white (probably Nagito) faced away from the camera, and he... appeared to be openly staring at him, mouth hanging slightly open. What an embarrassing picture... He's sure there's some context missing, but that one gets set aside as well. He is definitely not showing that one around.
...At least there was a companion photo. Nearly identical, but this time he was looking at the camera, probably smiling having noticed he was having his picture taken, and Nagito had turned around to peer at him. He wasn't making an embarrassing face like Hajime had been, though... Then again, Nagito rarely made any real expression at all. He was usually smiling his placid smile... but not in this photo. He looked sort of thoughtful.
There were a couple photos of them walking together - just how had Mahiru taken these without being noticed? In one, they were shoulder to shoulder walking along the beach, backs to the camera, and in the other they were talking. Nagito's big, close-eyed smile made his face glow - as did the prominent redness dusting his cheeks. Hajime's own head was just out of frame, but he seemed flustered, judging by the fact he was rubbing the back his neck - just what had the lucky boy said to prompt such a strong reaction? He set those aside, too. In fact, he decided to set all further pictures of just himself and Nagito aside - Mahiru seemed to like taking... odd photos of them.
He sighed and shoved the rejected pictures into his pocket, scooping the others back into the folder and taking it with him up to dinner. Nagito wasn't there, as always, but nearly everyone else was. Conversation paused as he walked in, and the suddenly still air made him freeze as several of his friends narrowed their eyes at him. "What? Do I have something in my hair or something?" He asked, trying (and failing) not to sound defensive.
Tactless Kazuichi gave the opening argument. "No. Your face is bright red, man - I haven't seen you so winded before."
"He's not sweaty." Fuyuhiko said, eyes narrowed. He was too perceptive, sometimes.
"Has the inevitable finally occurred, then?" Sonia asked. Her face stretched into a smile. Seeing that expression reminded him of one of the pictures in his pocket. It did his flaming cheeks no favors.
"Congratulations, companion! It is truly a rare and wonderful day when one acknowledges a new bond!" Gundham said with his usual 'villainous' smile.
"I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I wanted to ask your opinions on these..." He dropped the file on the table and flipped it open. "The photos Mahiru took... during the game. There... are a lot of good memories in here. She was right to want to preserve them."
Mahiru, who had been suspiciously quiet until then, made an affirmative sound. "I think we should hang them. We don't really have any photos of ourselves at that age... so I think it's good that we have these." She spread them out so they could all be judged. "Ah, but where are...?"
He didn't comment on her half-asked question. "I'm going to get dinner."
"Oh, skip the greens... They're apparently so bad they made Teruteru physically sick just to smell..." Kazuichi said, expression crumpling. "Thought I was getting better at this cooking thing." Gundham and Nekomaru both clapped a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him that Teruteru was just a bit more sensitive than average. Gundham even remarked that they 'tasted like home...'
He did choose to skip the greens. When he finished washing his dishes, though, someone was lying in wait in the dining room, which had been empty when he finished eating. "I think you should show him."
"E-Eh?!" He said, not expecting the voice as he exited the kitchen.
Mahiru shook her head, planting a hand on her hip. "The photos you pulled out of the file. You should show them to Nagito. It's obvious to everyone that you two have some undiscussed issues, and we'd very much like them to be discussed already. Pretty much all of us have set aside our problems; it's time for you to deal with yours." She grimaced. "I'm tired of walking into the most oppressive atmosphere ever when the two of you are alone in a room together. And Kazuichi is about to explode from the stress."
He was sure that was an exaggeration, but he supposed he hadn't really... talked to Nagito since then, outside of the clinical environment of the hospital. He knew through context clues that Nagito had a relatively active social life - book club with Peko, Sonia, and Mahiru, game nights with Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi, "ritual sessions" with Gundham. On top of his checkups with Mikan (which both of them detested - their personalities were incompatible in a very basic way, but they tolerated one another), doctor-mandated exercise with Nekomaru and Akane, and the social events they all occasionally got roped into. He shrugged and made a noncommittal sound at Mahiru, basically just to piss her off, and went on his way. It was... late, later than he'd realized. Nearly dark. He found himself pausing in front of the path to Nagito's cabin, before turning back towards the beach. In the low light, he sat in the sand and got the pictures out.
He recognized that he was avoiding the subject, now - he was avoiding thinking about Nagito and the way he'd thought of him before the first trial. He stared at the photo of himself looking at Nagito for a while, artificially enhanced vision letting him continue considering his face long after the light faded out entirely. His own expression, too. He tried to picture what had made him make that face, and felt the shadow of it in him still. He missed... that.
What that was, he wasn't sure. But he missed it dearly.