Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I thought you’d said just a couple of other people,” Asahina sighed, turning to glare at Yasuhiro. “This is a couple of people to you?”

“Well, I’d just invited Mondo… and he invited Ishimaru and Chihiro… one of them must have invited Leon, and then…” he glanced behind him, to which twenty-five other students were in line to get into the pool.

“Some of these people aren’t even in our class,” Sakura pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “How did you even accomplish this?”

“Well, I-”

“You know what, I don’t care,” Asahina threw her hands up, a defeated look on her face. “As long as they don’t cause any problems, it should be fine. Come on Sakura, let's go.”

“We won’t!” Yasuhiro called out, to which Asahina only rolled her eyes. She pulled Sakura past the lifeguards working the front desk, giving her coworkers a friendly nod. The lifeguards waved back, already well acquainted with the two given the fact that Asahina worked there most days and Sakura would visit frequently. The two headed towards the beach chairs, each throwing a towel over one, then watched as the mob of high schoolers slowly filed into the pool area.

“Even Byakuya’s here?” Asahina asked incredulously, unsure whether she should be more annoyed or impressed. Byakuya was following along behind Makoto and Kirigiri, arms crossed and his nose stuck up. He scanned the area, seemingly displeased by what he saw.

“Makoto, I thought you said we were going to be the only ones here,” Byakuya said in his usual snarky tone. Makoto paused his conversation with Kirigiri to look at him, confused.

“I don’t think I said that… It’s a public pool and a Saturday, so-”

“WHAT?!” Byakuya interjected, a furious look on his face. Makoto took a step back, hiding behind Kirigiri. “What do you mean this is a PUBLIC pool? You mean to tell me we have to share this space with a bunch of bottom-feeders?”

“The entry fee was like two dollars, I’m not sure what you were expecting,” Kirigiri responded coolly. “Don’t be a baby.” This deeply offended Byakuya, but he knew better than to argue with Kirigiri.

“Anyway, we’re here with a ton of our friends so I’m sure we’ll have a good time!” Makoto chirped, and Byakuya only rolled his eyes.

“As long as Toko isn’t coming, like you promised.”

“She’s hanging out with my sister today, so she won’t be here.” Convincing Byakuya to show up was hard enough, but it would’ve been an impossible task if he was forced to put up with her.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, “let’s just grab some lounge chairs before these parasites take all of them.”

Hajime looked at the crowd of people he vaguely recognized to be students of the 78th class at Hope’s Peak. “Hey, Ibuki?”

“Yes?” Ibuki blinked innocently.

“Be honest. Did we crash someone else’s pool party?”

“Course not! We were invited!”

“By who?” Hajime asked.

“By that guy!” she gestured to a guy with red hair, someone Hajime’d had maybe one full conversation with after an entire year of classes. “Oh, and he was invited by that guy, who was invited by that guy, who was invited by-”

“We’re crashing someone else’s pool party,” Hajime realized, a sinking feeling in his chest.

“It’ll be fine… I think,” Chiaki cut in, not looking up from her Nintendo 3DS. “I know most of them, at least a little bit. They’re all pretty nice. But if I were you, I’d avoid the one wearing glasses.”

“Wow!” a voice from beside him exclaimed, and Hajime recognized it as Nagito instantly. “How lucky am I to be in the presence of so many Ultimates all at the same time? So many symbols of hope!” His gaze drifted to Hajime, and he added, “Oh, and I suppose Hajime’s here too.”

“This isn’t luck at all, you knew we were all coming,” Hajime retorts, crossing his arms. “At least try and act like a normal person while we’re here.”

“Whatever you say, Reserve Course,” Nagito responded, and Hajime was already fighting the urge to push him into the pool.

“Why’d we bring this guy again?” he asked, turning to Chiaki, not realizing she’d already walked away. He turned to where Ibuki’d been standing, realizing she was gone too.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now,” Nagito said, linking arms with Hajime, much to his dismay. “All alone with Hajime, huh…”

“Dude, you’re already making this weird,” Hajime sighed, giving up and letting Nagito drag him away. “Now, come on. Let’s take off our clothes.”

“LEON!” Ibuki shouted, barreling towards where Leon and Sayaka were standing. Leon thought she would slow down as she got closer, but to his horror she sped up instead.

“Ibuki, what are you-” he started to say, only to get rammed into by Ibuki. He collapsed to the ground as she snickered mischievously, turning to the girl standing beside him.

“I just wanted to say hello! Ibuki didn’t think pretty girls talked to Leon!”

“Not cool, dude! I talk to pretty girls, like, all the time!”

Sayaka giggled as she helped pull Leon up, then turned her attention to Ibuki. “Hi! I’m Sayaka. You must be the girl Leon invited, right?”

Ibuki nodded enthusiastically. “Yep! I-buki Mio-da! Put it together and whaddya get? IBUKI MIODA!”

“The Ultimate Musician, right? Leon’s told me a lot about you!”

“The one and only!” Ibuki answered, beaming. “Leon’s mentioned you too, but he never told Ibuki you were THE Sayaka Maizono! I’m so pumped!”

“How many Sayaka Maizonos do you think there are?” Leon asked, but neither of them paid him any attention.

“Oh, yeah, that’s me! That’s not important right now though, today’s supposed to be all about having fun!”

“Agreed! Ibuki wishes they would play better music, though.”

“Yeah, who even plays country music at the pool?” Leon asked, but was once again ignored by the girls.

“Totally agree with you, Ibuki. Anyway, want to go grab a spot?”

“Yeah, lets-” Leon gets cut off by Ibuki, who chirps, “For sure! Let’s go!”

“Hey, wait for me!” Leon calls out as Sayaka and Ibuki skip away. When it becomes clear that the two aren’t going to slow down and wait for him, he starts to sadly trail behind them.

“Come on Mondo! We must read the pool rules before we get in the water!” Ishimaru ordered, holding Mondo back from immediately diving into the pool.

“Seriously man?” Mondo protested. “Next you’re gonna make us put on sunscreen or something.”

“Of course I will!” Ishimaru bellowed, dragging his friend away. “Sunscreen is a crucial part of preventing skin cancer! In fact, I will be making sure everyone’s applying sunscreen, all throughout the day!”

“That’s crazy talk! How are ya gonna do that?”

“After I educate everyone on the dangers of UV radiation, I’m sure they will be more than willing to follow the protocols I’ve advised!”

“I don’t think you’re going to win this one, Mondo,” Chihiro chimed in with a sigh. “You know how Ishimaru gets when he’s enforcing the rules.”

“S’pose you’re right,” Mondo says defeatedly. Try as he might, there was no getting in Ishimaru’s way when he wanted to be in charge. “Fine, let’s go read the fucking pool rules and put on sunscreen or whatever.”

“LANGUAGE!”

After Ishimaru spent some time patrolling the pool area and making sure everyone’s sunscreen was correctly applied (and making sure the sunscreen had adequate time to dry), it was finally time.

“CANNONBALL!” Kazuichi shouted, glancing at Sonia mid-jump to see if she was watching. She was not, instead listening intently to something Gundham was explaining. Seeing this made him lose focus, and he accidentally ended up belly flopping into the pool instead.

Fuyuhiko laughed at him from the side of the pool as Kazuichi came up for air. “Idiot.”

“Wh-hey!” Kazuichi protested, scrambling for a comeback but unable to think of anything. “At least I’m actually in the water, unlike that weirdo.”

He pointed at Nagito, who was sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in the water.

“Oh, I can’t swim,” Nagito revealed, staring down at his hand with a sad expression. “Pathetic, right?”

“Why don’t you just hang out in the shallow end then?” Peko suggested.

“Ah, that’s a great idea!” Nagito exclaimed as he clasped his hands together, his eyes sparkling with a newfound hope. “Hajime, will you accompany me in the shallow end?”

Hajime gave him a look, like who does he think he’s talking to? before shaking his head. “No way,” he responded, already turning to swim away.

“Even a Reserve Course student doesn’t want to be seen with the likes of me,” Nagito sighed. “Such despair…”

“Wait, you can’t swim?” an enthusiastic voice asked from behind him. “I can teach you if you want!”

He turned around to see Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro and close friend of the infamous Hope Boy, Makoto Naegi.

“Really? You’d teach someone like me how to swim?” Nagito asked incredulously.

“Of course! I’m sure Sakura won’t mind. I’ll just tell her when she gets back. We should probably start in the shallow end though, in case you drown.” Seeing how Nagito’s expression dropped, she added, “Oh, I was just joking. I won’t let you drown.”

The two get in the water, with Asahina starting to explain the basics. “Here, just start by kicking your feet,” she instructs as she grabs onto the wall. He does the same, doing his best to copy her movements.

“Oh, like this? I think I may be getting the hang of this,” he exclaims after a bit of kicking. Sakura, who had rejoined them while he was practicing, gave him a nod of approval and a quick thumbs up.

“That’s great!” Asahina smiles proudly, though her attention quickly shifts up. Nagito followed her gaze to the sky, which was beginning to darken at an unnatural pace.

“Just my luck…” he sighs, frowning as raindrops begin to pour down.

Chapter Text

“Do you want to play Smash Bros?” Chiaki asked, not looking up from her 3DS as she continued to mash different buttons. “I brought my Switch with me.”

Celeste wasn’t sure whether or not she was talking to her since they hadn’t spoken the entire time, but considering there was nobody else around, it was safe to assume the question was directed at her.

“I beg your pardon?” she turned towards Chiaki, an intrigued look on her face.

“Smash Bros,” she simply said in return, finally putting her 3DS down onto the table in front of her and reaching into her bag to grab her Switch. She opened up the game, scooting her chair over as the opening theme started blaring from the console. “Hang on, you have to see this.”

And so Celeste sat and watched the entire two-minute-long music video, growing increasingly more confused by the second. She had tried to say something about halfway through, only to be shushed by Chiaki.

“No, look, this is my favorite part,” Chiaki claimed as the chorus restarted once again. Celeste continued watching in silence, wondering if it would ever end. After what felt like an eternity, the screen went white, finally displaying the title of the game.

“Awesome, right?” she exclaimed in a voice so hopeful that all Celeste could do was nod. Chiaki smiled, clicking a few buttons and bringing them to the character selection page. She added another player and handed Celeste a remote. “I’ll put us on the same team to make things more fair.”

Celeste watched as Chiaki moved her character selection chip onto random, a skeptical look on her face. As Celeste stared at the many character options with a blank expression, Chiaki pointed at the screen, trying to help out.

“You just have to pick the character you want,” she stated.

“I know that,” Celeste scoffs, though her character selection chip still remained motionless. After another moment, Chiaki points at her remote.

“You have to use the joystick to move it,” she adds, and Celeste’s chip finally starts moving in erratic lines across the screen.

“I know,” she still tried to argue, finally selecting whatever character she had her chip on at that point.

“WII FIT TRAINER,” the console bellowed at full volume. Chiaki stared at the screen for a few seconds, mouse hovering over the READY button.

“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” she asked, but Celeste was determined to seem like she knew what she was doing.

“Yes, that’s the one I picked, isn’t it?”

Chiaki only shrugged, starting the game. 

“3, 2, 1, FIGHT!” the console shouted, and Celeste’s character immediately walked off the map.

“Wait, which one am I?” Celeste asked as her character respawned in the air, one life already gone. 

“Yours is up there, the one that says Player 2,” Chiaki explained as she expertly hit a few buttons and sent one of the CPUs flying.

“This game is stupid.” Celeste declared. “How do I jump?” Wii Fit Trainer began to punch the air as Celeste mashed random buttons, trying to figure out the controls.

“Press the button,” Chiaki said unhelpfully, still fending off attacks from two level 9 CPUs with ease.

“This button?” Celeste asked, as her character once again jumps off the edge.

“Yeah, but be careful because you only have one more life,” Chiaki added, still focused on winning.

“What?! I’m Celestia Ludenburg, I’ll have as many lives as I want!” Celeste seethed as her character ran across the screen, finally landing a punch on the opposing team. Unfortunately one of the CPUs grabbed her character and sent her flying to the right, far enough away that she couldn’t make her way back to the battlefield with the one jump given to her. “GOD DAMN IT!” she shrieked, causing nearby children to flinch.

“Wii Fit Trainer, eliminated,” the console announced, cheery as ever.

“Don’t mock me, you stupid, good for nothing-”

The screen suddenly flashed to Chiaki’s character KO’ing the remaining opponent, the console shouting “GAME!” as Celeste tried to piece together what was happening. 

“Look, we won,” Chiaki pointed out as the screen displayed their two characters posing triumphantly. Celeste took a minute to compose herself before responding.

“Yes, of course we did,” was all she could muster up as Chiaki began to prepare another round. 

“Let’s play again,” she said, and before Celeste could think up an excuse to leave, raindrops started to hit the console screen, distorting the image on it. The two looked up at the sky, which was now dark with rainclouds. “Aw man, I think it’s raining. I’ve got to put away the games so they don’t get wet.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Celeste replied, trying to hide her sarcasm. 

“Move a little to your left,” Mahiru instructed as she focused the lens.

“Ew, I don’t want to get any closer to that nasty pig,” Hiyoko sneered, reluctantly taking a step closer to Mikan.

“N-nasty pig?!” Mikan cried.

“Come on, I’m trying to take a nice picture. Can you two cooperate for once?” When the two were finally in frame, Mahiru snapped the picture.

“Ooh, lemme see lemme see!” Hiyoko exclaimed, running over. Mikan craned her neck to see the screen as Mahiru sighed, turning the camera around.

“Hey Ibuki,” she greeted in an exasperated tone.

Hiyoko looked at the photo on the camera, snickering when she saw Ibuki in the background making a silly face while looking directly at the camera. She glanced back at where Ibuki had been standing, but there was nobody there anymore.

“Well, I guess that’s good enough.” Mahiru turned her camera back around, holding it up to her face and scanning the area for someone else to photograph. She turned around, jumping as Kazuichi’s grinning face appeared on the small screen, zoomed in and as horrifying as ever.

“Jeez! Why would you scare me like that?” she exhaled as she lowered the camera.

“I was wondering if you could photograph me and Miss Sonia,” Kazuichi asked excitedly, pointing towards where Sonia was standing in the distance and not even remotely clued into the conversation.

“Sorry. I took a picture of a guy yesterday,” Mahiru offered as her only explanation.

“Come on! I’m not a guy, right?” Kazuichi asked, looking over at Hiyoko.

“Clearly not,” she responded in a snooty voice. Mikan squeaked at Hiyoko’s rudeness, but Kazuichi didn’t seem at all offended.

“See? Hiyoko agrees!” he said, turning back to Mahiru. “Come on, please?”

Rolling her eyes, Mahiru relented. “Fine, let’s go get her then.”

“No need! Right here is fine,” he assured her, posing with his hands on his hips. Sonia was off to the side, the distance making her look much smaller.

“This is why I don’t like photographing guys,” she muttered under her breath as she begrudgingly snapped the photo. Kazuichi hurried over to look at the picture.

“Perfect,” he sighs dreamily, his eyes sparkling with admiration.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going to go find someone else to photograph now,” she frowned, already turning away. That was when she noticed the dark sky, and she quickly grabbed her camera bag to protect her camera from the oncoming rain which started not even two seconds later.

“Well that’s unlucky,” Kazuichi stated, shrugging his shoulders. This nonchalant reaction did not satisfy Hiyoko.

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” she told him. “It’s the curse! Didn’t you wonder why Mahiru doesn’t take pictures of guys very often?”

“W-what?!” he exclaimed, trying to hide how scared he was.

“Yeah! Now you have to jump in the water and wash off the curse!”

He looked skeptical at first, but when the rain began pouring down even harder he gulped. “O-okay, I’ll go do that then!” he cried as he ran towards the pool, launching himself into it. Hiyoko cackled as Mahiru and Mikan only watched, completely dumbfounded.

“I can’t believe he actually fell for that!” Hiyoko snickered, turning to her two friends. “Anyway, let’s go find somewhere to sit while we wait out the rain.”

“Alright,” Mahiru agreed, shifting her camera bag as she followed Hiyoko, Mikan trailing after them.

“If it starts to rain any harder, we’re probably going to have to get out of the pool,” Sakura sighs, crossing her arms in disappointment.

“I’m sorry for ruining your fun,” Nagito apologized again, like he’d been doing for the past ten minutes. “This has to be because of my luck.”

“No way! I know an Ultimate Lucky Student, and this kind of stuff never happens with him!” Asahina reassured him. “Makoto Naegi, I’m sure you’ve heard of him! Right?”

“Oh, hey Asahina! Did you need me for something?” Makoto, who just so happened to be walking by, asked. Nagito looked up and saw a sight that was almost holy. Makoto Naegi’s face, illuminated by a ray of sunlight peeking through the impossibly dark sky, held a slightly confused but always friendly expression. Nagito vaguely registered the rain slowing down before ceasing entirely, his attention focused on the sight before him.

“He really is The Hope Boy…” he murmured to himself, catching Asahina’s attention.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

“Well, alright then.” She looked back up at Makoto, who was still standing on the side of the pool. “Me and Sakura were just teaching him how to swim before it started raining! Nagito, why don’t you show him?”

“Okay!” Nagito says a little too enthusiastically, pushing off the side of the pool and splashing wildly. For a moment, it seemed like he was getting somewhere before they all heard a muffled yelp, only able to watch as he plummeted to the bottom of the three foot deep pool. 

“NAGITO!” Asahina shrieks at the same time Makoto stupidly asks, “Uh, is he okay?”

His hand emerged from the water, a clear cry for help. Makoto, unsure of what to do and desperate to be helpful, panicked and jumped in the water as Asahina scrambled to grab Nagito's hand. She pulled him up with ease, catching him as he nearly slipped and fell back into the water. He gasped, pushing his mop of wet hair out of his face before violently coughing.

“Are you okay??” Makoto asked again as Nagito finally steadied himself, the water barely reaching his waist when he stood.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Believe it or not, this isn’t my first time almost drowning.” Nagito adds a small laugh at the end of his statement, but Makoto just looks deeply concerned.

“You need more practice. You should return when there’s less going on,” Sakura told him, to which he nodded solemnly in response.

“Sakura’s right. I’d be happy to keep teaching you on a day that’s less…” Asahina glares at Yasuhiro, “chaotic. But for now I think I have something that can help you.”