Chapter Text
It was quiet for the most part, it almost felt like he was floating. This wasn’t new, sometimes sleeping could leave him in this state, unable to tell just what was going on. His head ached, and his consciousness seemed to be pulling together almost like thin threads weaving back to one final piece of art. First he could smell the salty air, it was mixed with what seemed to be sand and this soft smell of palm tree leaves.
“Hey...Can you hear me?”
Oh...Someone was talking to him. He could feel the harsh sunlight on his face, fingers in the warm sand. Sand? Wasn’t he…
“Hey..are you alright?”
Who was talking? Why was he here? Wasn’t he supposed to...supposed to?
“..You sure look exhausted. Well I am too, everyone is..considering the circumstances…”
Cir--Circumstances? Oh...it was hard to think, his mind was a muddled mess even his thoughts didn’t make sense. An island...a voice saying that they were not going to...to…
“..Are you even listening?”
Yes! Yes he was...Deciding to open his eyes he almost forgot just what was going on. Darkness. Nothing but an inky black mess. Oh. Right. He was blind, of course there would be nothing. He could barely figure out the small bits of light as he traveled his eyes from side to side. You are Hajime Hinata. He reminded himself. You were supposed to go to Hope’s Peak Academy..and then this happened.
“Oh! You’re awake!” The voice said sounding relieved, a small shuffling movement was beside him. “Are you okay?” Male..maybe about the same age as Hajime. He sounded tired, maybe as tired as Hajime felt.
“Yeah..I’m okay.” Hajime says rubbing his eyes and moved to sit up fumbling for a moment as he tried to adjust to the sudden movement. Had he passed out? They were on an island, he could tell now as his senses started to reboot.
The voice laughed softly, as footsteps moved closer. “Good, you gave everyone quite the scare, passing out like that. Not that I blame you...this is pretty strange.”
So he did pass out, great. He remembered meeting everyone, err well entering the classroom and hearing the many different voices of his new classmates. Then this high pitched voice came in and then he felt the earth shake and the dusty classroom was gone instead replaced with the smells and sounds of a tropical island.
“So we really are on an island.” Hajime murmured licking his lower lips finding them to be a bit chapped.
“Huh? Yeah can’t you see the sea or the palm trees all around us?” The voice asked and Hajime stayed quiet not really wishing to announce that he was blind, and no he couldn’t see what was around him. “Anyways, how about it? Feeling better?” He asked once again and Hajime gave a small nod.
“Like I said before, I am fine. All good. I’m not too sure why I even fainted in the first place.” It was a bit confusing, a lot of pieces were missing in his mind, and whenever he went to piece them together it hurt his head. He winced and shook his head flicking his eyes up to where he supposed the voice was.
Hearing a hum from the other Hajime went to stand keeping himself steady cursing inwardly that he didn’t exactly have his cane or something to guide him around the sand. Great.
“Um..well that being said I think we should introduce ourselves.” The voice said as fabric was slightly rustled, he must be wearing some sort of jacket. In this weather though? Wasn’t he sweating if anything?
“Oh right sure.” Hajime says quickly, he didn’t have time to introduce himself before so it was best to start now. Better late than never he supposed.
A small huff-like laugh was heard and the voice seemed to be smiling judging by his tone. “Pleased to meet you, I am Nagito Komaeda.” Nagito...okay that shouldn’t be too hard to remember. Hajime thought as Nagito continued to speak. “Oh, and since we are doing introductions...I suppose I should tell you my talent.” There is a pause and a small sigh escaping Nagito’s lips. “Though it’s a pretty lousy talent..”
Lousy? Hajime tilted his head brows furrowed. “I wouldn’t call any sort of talent lousy.” He stated wondering just what talent the other had that made him think such a thing.
Nagito gives a hum shaking his head slightly, “My talent is having good luck.”
Huh? Wait..what? “Luck?” Hajime couldn’t help but repeat no doubt showing a skeptical look on his face.
“It’s no joke, I am the Ultimate Luckster.” Nagito supplies and then laughs, “Every year Hope’s Peak has an lottery for an ordinary student to join the ranks of Ultimates and I was picked for this year. So I literally was here because of my good fortune, pretty trashy huh?”
Hajime wasn’t sure what to think. Was luck even a talent one could have? He supposed so..people could have a large amount of luck and avoid things without having to break a sweat. “Not necessarily? I mean…” He trailed off trying to find the best way to explain his thoughts.
“It’s fine, I don’t expect you defend someone like me. I suppose I feel out of place because of being drawn out of the lottery meanwhile everyone else worked so diligently for their own talent to thrive.” Nagito sighs but it’s then covered up with a laugh, “Aha I don’t mean to be so negative, it’s a force of habit if anything. But that’s it for my introductions.”
There’s an awkward pause as Hajime tried to gauge just how this person was. Odd definitely, but not bad. He did seem to have a low standard of himself, but that was normal for any teenager Hajime supposed. He blinks when realizing it’s his turn to introduce himself.
“Oh right. I’m Hajime Hinata.” He says with a slight dip to his head shifting his weight a bit.
Nagito is silent for a moment and Hajime isn’t sure why. Probably scanning him up and down, maybe he knew...that he was blind. It didn’t matter if he did, Hajime just rather not make a big deal of it. Best to stay quiet if anything.
“Hajime, if you don’t mind me asking what makes you an Ultimate? What is your talent?” Nagito asked pulling Hajime out of his own thoughts.
His talent..why...it was….? ….? What? He felt a shiver run down his spine as his body just suddenly went cold as he tried to think. Huh? He...he couldn’t... His talent was….?
“Hajime! Are you okay?” Hajime nearly takes a step back when hands are placed on his shoulder surprising the brunet a bit. Nagito’s hands were thin, but had a grip on his shoulders his voice also filled with concern. “You went really pale! Is everything okay? Do you need to sit down?” Nagito asked and Hajime quickly shook his head blinking rapidly even though it didn’t do anything really.
“N-no I’m..I’m fine. I just can’t seem to remember what my talent is.” Hajime stammers rubbing his now aching temples. How come he couldn’t remember? And why did it hurt when he tried to? Perhaps it was just the sun getting to him? He didn’t have his glasses so that could be it.
Nagito gently pulls his hands away and Hajime shakes the feeling of confusion off pursing his lips a bit. “Hmm...Well that’s okay. It’s been a strange day already, I wouldn’t be surprised if something like memory loss was played into all this. Don’t worry Hajime, I am sure we will find your talent. And I am sure it is something absolutely amazing!”
He can’t help but feel surprise at this person standing before him. He had such faith in him and this guy didn’t even know Hajime! Now he felt slightly pressured…
“Well, introductions are all done and it seems the class is getting back together. We should head back as well.” Nagito says and Hajime nods but chewed on his lower lip. It shouldn’t be a big deal you can walk in sand Hajime. Come on.
“Right...okay.” He takes in a deep breath wishing he had his cane with him, but it seemed he had nothing of the sort here. How was he even supposed to move here? Nagito seemed to be waiting for him so he took his first step wobbling a bit as the sand sank wherever he stepped. You can do this.
“Hajime may I ask another question?” Nagito asked as Hajime continued to awkwardly walk following the other’s voice.
“Go right on ahead.”
“Are...are you blind?” Nagito seemed nervous about asking the question, Hajime expected it he probably looked like an idiot right now trying to walk on this damn sand. He let out a sigh and stopped walking turning his head to look at Nagito, or in his direction to be more correct.
“...Yeah. I’m blind. Is it obvious?” He asked with a small huff wishing he wasn’t so bad at this. Even with his cane he still would have trouble on this beach.
“Well..at first I noticed that you would never meet my eyes. I just assumed you did not wish to be around someone like me, but now you can’t walk in sand and your arms are out as if trying to see if there is any obstacles in your way.” Nagito was smart, Hajime would give him that. “May I ask how? How you’re blind? Was it an accident or?”
Hajime shakes his head immediately. “No I was born with it. I was born a bit too early and my eyes didn’t develop correctly or something on those lines. I never cared to remember the specifics. But I am blind and I hope you don’t treat me differently because of it. And..please don’t go telling the others. I rather not make a big deal of it.”
“I..see. You are very interesting Hajime. But I will promise I will not carelessly give away your disability. Do you need help? With walking? I could lead you? It’s not too far where everyone is.” Nagito suggests and Hajime gives out a defeated sigh before nodding. Might as well or it would take hours before they even got to the other side of the beach.
Nagito gently wraps his thin arm around Hajime’s own keeping the brunet from falling as he starts to walk. This wasn’t the first time Hajime had someone help him walk, there were times where the streets were too noisy and his senses were overblown by all the noise and smells and it messed with his spacial reasoning causing him to hit things including signs or people. Mostly signs though.
They continue to walk as Hajime looks around hearing the sound of the ocean's waves crashing onto the shore, with seagulls making their usual noises above their head. It was peaceful but Hajime couldn’t help but worry. None of this made any sense. Why were they here? And why was everyone so calm about this? “We are here I’m going to let go of your arm, you can walk right?”
“Let’s hope so.” Hajime says as Nagito pulls away his arm leaving Hajime without his crutch. He could hear students chattering, each voice unique to his ears.
“Oh look who decided to show up! Done being all mopey?” A voice asked, female definitely. Hajime could already imagine someone with a hands on their hips with that scolding tone.
“Sorry, I passed out. Wasn’t exactly what I had planned.” Hajime retorts closing his eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh. Well this wasn’t going well that was for sure.
“Everyone this is Hajime Hinata. He’s having some memory problems, so please be a little less angry.” Nagito adds getting Hajime to roll his eyes.
“I can do my own introductions, but yeah. I’m Hajime. What exactly is going on here?” He asked curious to why everyone was all gathered around in a certain area.
A shrill voice rang through the crowd of students, “Ohhh! Oh! Ibuki can tell you! Usami thing said that she wanted us to gather around and tell us something!!!” Another female. He really needed to know these people’s names, judging by how much noise was being made, there were a lot.
“That’s right!” Another voice chirped appearing behind Hajime getting him to turn around sharply bumping into Nagito on accident. The Luckster gently held him steady with a small hum. “I wanted to get everyone here and it seems everyone is! Well done!” The voice giggles and Hajime assumes this one might be Usami.
“Now what the hell do you want?”
“Indeed, do tell us why we are all gathered here.”
Usami gave another giggle before getting back to the task at hand. “This is your new home! We will be living here for the time being with everyone getting to know each other! Hehe! In order to do that you need to collect hope shards and it looks like Hajime and Nagito already have some!”
“Oh? Interesting…” Nagito pulls something out of his pocket small electronic noises being heard. Hajime didn’t have one of those…
“Umm...Usami? I don’t have one of those devices.” He says gesturing to Nagito’s hand while Usami gave a small giggle.
“You do silly, I just had to modify it so you could use it.” Usami says walking over to Hajime placing it in his hands finding that her...hands were not really hands. But more like paws? ...What? What?! She wasn’t human? Hajime gently reaches for the strange thing touching the soft fur finding ears and a bow placed on her head. A stuffed..toy?
“Hehe that tickles!”
“You’re...whoa what?” Hajime stammers pulling his hands away.
“Yeah duh! Can’t you see dummy that she’s a freaking rabbit toy? And how come he gets a special one?” Another female voice says, this one’s a bit more childish than the others. A toy...how? She was supposed to be their teacher?
Usami gives a small coo and the sound of wings flapping could be heard. “Well Hajime can’t exactly see! He’s blind!” She confirms and Hajime lifts his head swallowing hard. Well great. Here it goes…
There was an uproar of noises, he could hear many ‘whats?!’ and ‘no ways!’ along with a few ‘i didn’t even notice’. “Now now everyone, I expect you to treat him the same. He is here just like the rest of you to gain hope fragments. I am sorry that we couldn’t get your cane and glasses Hajime.” Usami says and Hajime shakes his head waving that off. It was fine. He could handle it.
“Whoa whoa pointy haired dude is blind?! Like can’t even see? How many fingers am I holding up blind guy?”
“Akane…”
Hajime turns to the voice giving a ‘are you serious?’ look before letting out a sigh. “I don’t know four?”
“Wrong! It was two twos!” Wait what? Didn’t that mean the same thing? This...was going to be a long trip. But seriously...why were they even here? And why wasn’t everyone not freaking out because of this?! They were on an island! In the middle of nowhere!
“Yes, I’m blind. Can we please get away from this topic and talk about being on this island? You're basically saying that if we gain these…’hope fragments’ then we can leave?” He questioned chewing on his lower lip in slight annoyance.
“Yup yup! Until then feel free to go around the island! Don’t forget to check over the rules and regulations! Love love!” Usami chirped before there was a small ‘poof’ and the rabbit was gone.
It was quiet and it looked like everyone had their eyes on Hajime no doubt because he was blind. It wasn’t that big of a deal, it just meant he couldn’t see. He could hear, he could breathe, a functioning human being just without eyesight. But, thankfully after a few minutes everyone decided to head off to search the island on their own. He could tell Nagito was still behind him which was fine. He didn’t mind the Ultimate Luckster’s company.
“Hey Hajime, the name’s Kazuichi Souda. I’m the Ultimate Mechanic.” A voice says after a moment of silence and Hajime turns his body to look at him giving a small sigh and an attempt at a smile. “Anyways, if ya need a cane, I could probably make one for you! It won’t be as fancy as the one you probably have since the materials here are on the low side…”
He was a bit stunned, this guy..would make him a cane? Well he did say he was the Ultimate Mechanic..could he really do such a thing? “I...well you don’t have to seriously. I only have a problem with walking on sand since it’s uneven ground..”
“It’s no big deal, plus I like to tinker with things. I never made a blind guy a cane before so it’ll be a new challenge!” He pats Hajime on the shoulder with a laugh and Hajime wonders just how this mechanic looked. He’s tempted to put his hands onto Kazuichi’s face and try to understand what this guy looked like. He could tell the other was a bit shorter than him, but that was about it.
“I..that would be awesome. Seriously. I have a feeling I’m going to be fumbling around a lot, so really you’ll be a lifesaver to me.” He replies with a laugh and Kazuichi follows pulling his hand away from Hajime’s shoulder.
“I dunno bout a lifesaver but I’ll do my best. Well see you! I gotta check this island out!” Kazuichi hits Hajime’s shoulder once more and he is left with Nagito who is oddly silent for that little conversation.
“Well should we get going? Or do you want to stay here all day?” Hajime asked his tone teasing while Nagito gives a small laugh helping Hajime walk off the beach.
“We should met the others, they may know your name but you don’t know theirs. I’ll tag along and help you out if you want.”
“That’d be great.”