Chapter Text
Even a month after enrolling at Hope's Peak Academy, Hajime Hinata still couldn't quite grasp what he was doing here or why his parents had been so adamant about him attending. The Academy offered students without an Ultimate talent a chance to cultivate one through diligent study? Hajime knew firsthand what it truly meant to be an Ultimate, and he understood all too well that if you weren't born with it, you could spend a lifetime trying and never reach that same level of mastery.
Well, to say he had absolutely no idea why he was wasting his time here would be an exaggeration. His reason and the central problem of his entire life had always gone by a single name - Izuru.
Not that he hated his twin brother, far from it. No matter how much Hinata had railed against the unfairness of fate as a child, he could never bring himself to truly hate Izuru, even though his brother surpassed him in every conceivable way.
And it wasn't even about how differently their parents had treated them in early childhood. Hinata didn't blame them for that. It was only natural, especially under circumstances where one of your children possessed so many talents that he was automatically hailed as the Ultimate Hope.
The problem arose when, under the weight of all his countless talents, Izuru simply grew bored one day. No matter how hard their parents tried to find some use for his abilities, Izuru could just walk out of yet another competition at any given moment, disappearing for days on end, or simply stop doing anything altogether midway through, leaving the judges and the other contestants completely baffled.
All these incidents gradually dampened society's interest in Izuru, and by the time they reached their teenage years, the world had forgotten about him. Instead of demonstrating the limitless power of his genius, the Ultimate Hope chose to attend an ordinary school and take ordinary classes alongside Hajime.
To say their parents were displeased by this turn of events would be an understatement, but they were far too weak-willed to oppose his decision in any way. Or perhaps at some point they had simply grown afraid of their own son, too terrified to say anything against him. Hajime distinctly remembers the moment when absolute adoration shifted into animal dread, when their parents finally realized that their own son stood merely one step above every other human being on the planet. It was also the moment they finally deigned to notice their second son, who, surprise surprise, had been watching this entire circus of his twin's deification from the very beginning. The shift was so sudden and so drastic that Hinata found himself unconsciously dividing his life into before and after.
A calm and somewhat lonely period, and a period when his life became filled with far too much Izuru.
That very same Izuru whom he had barely seen throughout most of his childhood, spending his time either alone or with the neighborhood kids while his brother traveled from city to city with their parents to showcase his talents. That very same Izuru, spoken of as a god who would save this world from despair, had suddenly started attending the most ordinary Japanese school right alongside him.
What was even more surprising was the realization that his twin truly saw Hajime as his brother, rather than a failed and talentless version of himself. Which was exactly how Hinata saw himself, though he liked to think that his self-esteem had improved at least somewhat since those years.
Middle school was... an odd experience. After all, attending the same class as his prodigy brother, who was constantly bored beyond measure, in a room full of ordinary "boring" and "predictable" people (words Hajime had heard so often over the past years that whenever he encountered them anywhere else he had to suppress an urge to roll his eyes) had its consequences.
Take, for instance, the time Izuru poured some kind of liquid on a girl who had been pestering him during chemistry class, after which her skin turned a vivid purple for several months. When Hajime asked him, in an absolutely calm and perfectly reasonable tone, what the hell he had done that for, Izuru replied with complete nonchalance that he had simply been curious whether she would stop talking to him afterward or not.
And there were many such situations. Far too many.
So many, in fact, that their mutual classmates began to avoid him as well. Hajime naively hoped that after graduation, his life would regain some semblance of normalcy. Izuru would enroll in some elite university for geniuses abroad, and Hinata would stay in Japan and finally find the time to build his own perfectly ordinary life.
If younger Hajime had heard such a wish from his future self, he would have thought he'd lost his mind. But whatever obsession with talent and longing for an unusual and interesting life he might once have had, after spending far too much time around Izuru, they had evaporated completely.
So when his parents announced that he would be enrolling at Hope's Peak Academy alongside his brother, Hinata ceased to understand entirely what kind of plans fate had in store for him. The final blow was that he had been forced to enroll not for the sake of his own happy and promising future, but solely and exclusively because Izuru himself flatly refused to attend alone.
And frankly speaking, Hajime couldn't care less what kind of ultimatums his twin gave their parents. He had every right to decide his own future. At least, he liked to dream about that sometimes. But in his short life, Hinata had managed to learn one important lesson.
Arguing with the Ultimate Hope was pointless.
If Izuru wanted a school trip that had been planned a month in advance to be canceled, then the day before, the trip location would be buried under boulders.
If Izuru wanted milk and cereal for breakfast instead of fried eggs, then every egg in every nearby store would spontaneously explode.
If Izuru wanted Hajime to study at the same academy as him, then that was exactly what would happen.
And so here he was, standing before the gates of Hope's Peak Academy, clutching the strap of a heavy bag stuffed with all kinds of textbooks and notebooks, which as a reserve course student he was forced to haul around with him every single day. The academy's administration had been gracious enough to admit Hinata into their institution on a "scholarship", but their generosity ended right there, when they decided not to place him in the main course alongside the other ultimates.
Thinking about it now, a month after enrollment, it no longer seemed like something worth complaining about, given his situation. The fewer eccentrics in his life, the better. The administration, without even realizing it themselves, had also done him a favor by forcing Izuru to take the surname Kamukura for the duration of his studies, which had completely erased any visible trace of their kinship to outside eyes.
Izuru later told him that it was the surname of the academy's founder, and that by a fortunate coincidence, the founder had also been his namesake. This was... a somewhat unsettling coincidence, and giving his brother the surname of a long-dead old man was a rather strange decision, but Hinata tried not to dwell on it.
In any case, this whole farce was meant to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to the fact that their infallible Ultimate Hope had a completely ordinary twin brother.
Well, whatever. Less trouble for him.
At least the other students didn't recoil from him the moment they learned who his brother was.
Suppressing an irritated sigh, Hinata headed through the gates. From a distance, he could already see a girl perched on the edge of the fountain, stubbornly ignoring everything happening around her, completely absorbed in her gaming world. Hajime smiled faintly at the sight.
He had met Nanami entirely by chance on his very first day of enrollment. Despite her status as the ultimate gamer, she couldn't have cared less that Hinata was a reserve course student.
Though sometimes Hinata wondered if anything besides games concerned her at all. Not that it was a bad thing. Occasionally, he simply needed to be around someone who radiated calm, rather than an atmosphere of existential boredom.
"Hey, Nanami."
The girl merely glanced at him before returning her full attention to the console in her hands. Had they not known each other, Hajime wouldn't have been able to catch the way her features softened.
"Hello, Hinata-kun. Glad to see you." The sound of clicking buttons didn't stop for a second. "How is Kamukura-kun doing?"
Hajime already felt a headache coming on at the mere mention of that surname, but he tried not to show his irritation in front of Chiaki, so as not to set a negative tone for the conversation.
Out of the entire academy, Nanami was perhaps the only one who had noticed that Hinata and Izuru had literally the same face. To be fair, she was also the only one in the academy who was directly acquainted with both twins, and who saw them as separate individuals rather than the ultimate hope and his talentless appendage.
Though Izuru was in the same class as her, he rarely showed up for lessons, either because the academy's research team had dragged him off for yet another round of tests, or simply because he couldn't be bothered to attend.
However, as the class representative and simply a kind soul, which Nanami undoubtedly was, Chiaki had clearly imprinted Kamukura's image into her memory. Literally on the very first day they met, she had asked Hajime directly whether they were related. When he asked how she had figured it out so quickly, Chiaki just pouted and said she wouldn't be the ultimate gamer if she weren't good at pattern recognition games.
She also said that the trope of twin brothers with completely opposite personalities had become something of a cliché lately, and it would have been foolish of her not to solve such an obvious mystery when it was staring her right in the face. Hinata had only laughed weakly at that, but inwardly he was somewhat troubled by the fact that their very existence reminded someone of a cliché from a cheap detective novel. As if his life didn't already resemble fiction enough.
"I was actually going to ask you about him. I haven't seen Izuru in a whole week." Hajime nervously tugged at the sleeves of his blazer. "Not that I'm worried about him, but we've been studying here for a month now, and this is the first time he's disappeared for this long."
In truth, this was the first time in years that Hinata had gone more than three days without seeing his brother. Not that they were constantly together. Their interactions mostly consisted of silently spending time in each other's presence, each doing their own thing. Well. Hinata was the one being busy. Izuru mostly just sat or lay there, watching him.
In any case, even at the academy, Izuru found time to visit him, whether it was a short walk or meeting up in the cafeteria. Hajime didn't fully understand why his twin bothered to spend time on him, but deep down, he valued this little ritual of theirs.
It was strange, to say the least, when something that had been built up over years suddenly broke for an entire week without any warning whatsoever.
Hinata stubbornly ignored his anxious subconscious, which kept feeding him images of the academy's researchers conducting inhuman experiments on his brother. It was far too early to raise the alarm, especially when it came to someone so godlike. He was only stressing himself out over nothing.
"...Mmm, I haven't seen Kamukura-kun in a while either. I didn't think he'd be avoiding you too." Chiaki tilted her head thoughtfully, lost in thought while her fingers continued to press the buttons on her console without pause. "But I think I know why he's been hiding lately, I think?"
Wait, Izuru was hiding from someone? Izuru?
"Hiding? What do you mean?"
What kind of person did you have to be for the ultimate hope to hide from you? If Izuru disliked someone, his ultimate luck allowed him to avoid that person for as long as he pleased, the world itself would conspire to keep their paths from crossing.
Chiaki finally put away her console, having cleared the level in her game. "Why don't you see for yourself?" Her gaze drifted past Hinata's shoulder.
Hajime spun around sharply, only now registering the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps behind him. In the distance, a familiar figure in a classic suit had appeared, his long, messy black hair whipping from side to side as if it were alive. Izuru could have looked composed and cool, if not for how comically fast he was trying to walk without actually breaking into a run. Behind him, in a futile attempt to catch up, trailed a breathless white-haired boy in the brown uniform of the main course.
Before Hinata could even get a word out, his twin had already ducked behind his back, red eyes utterly devoid of any emotion peering out from over his shoulder. Even from behind, Hajime could feel his irritation.
This was... strange. Hajime had a bad feeling about this. Warily, he glanced at the boy approaching them.
He looked like he was about to collapse into a dead faint at any second, and it was only through sheer persistence that he had managed to stay on his feet this long. That was, until luck apparently decided to play a cruel joke on him, and tripping over his own feet, he fell right at Hajime's shoes.
"Forgive my clumsiness, but you managed to foresee even this, didn't you, Kamukura-san?" The stranger lifted his head, propping himself up with one hand on the ground while awkwardly scratching the back of his head with the other. He didn't seem in any hurry to get up, apparently content with his current position. "...Hm? Ah, I seem to be seeing double."
His pale green eyes stared at the twins in astonishment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.
Hajime grew a little unsettled by the fact that a complete stranger was lying at his feet. Casting an irritated glance at Izuru behind him, wondering what kind of game his brother was playing this time, he extended a hand to the student on the ground. But even after fifteen seconds had passed, which by Hajime's standards was already uncomfortably long, the boy still hadn't taken it. He simply stared at Hinata in silence, unblinking, and Hajime had officially run out of patience for the day when it came to trying to figure out what was wrong. So he just pulled his hand back, awkwardly shoving it into his trouser pocket.
He really ought to think twice before offering help to anyone. He had stepped on the same rake far too many times. "So... care to explain what's going on here?" Hajime shot an irritated look at his brother, but Izuru merely favored him with an indifferent shrug.
Here we go again.
They hadn't seen each other in a week, and instead of any kind of greeting whatsoever, he was being invited to a fun little game called "put Hajime in the most awkward situation possible and see how he handles it."
The white-haired student, meanwhile, wasn't making any attempt to explain himself either, just staring at him. Had these two teamed up to launch a joint assault on the durability of his nerves?
"This student's name is Nagito Komaeda." Nanami, apparently deciding to take pity on him, finally intervened. "He's our classmate, but he only just managed to arrive in Japan and start attending lessons recently. Komaeda-kun, is there a reason you were chasing Kamukura-kun?"
Nanami's words worked on Nagito like a spell, and he immediately shifted his full attention from Hinata to her."Ah, how could I not, Nanami-san? Lady Luck is truly on my side if I've been blessed enough to end up in the same class as the ultimate hope! I believe it is precisely for that reason that circumstances of all kinds simply wouldn't allow me anywhere near the academy. But now that I'm finally here, I simply cannot resist the chance to behold the face of a god with my own eyes and personally observe his every move!" As Komaeda's ringing voice carried across the courtyard, a faint pink flush gradually bloomed across his cheeks.
Ah. Another worshipper. Over the course of his life, Hinata had seen plenty of people like this surrounding his brother. Though there was something about Nagito that set him apart from the others.
If not for the weirdness of the words coming out of his mouth, Hinata might have compared his demeanor to that of a shy, lovesick teenage girl from one of those standard romance anime that occasionally played on TV. Hajime subtly shook his head, dismissing the absurd comparison. Izuru cast a curious glance his way, but as expected, said nothing.
Suddenly, Nagito tugged at the hem of Hajime's trousers, drawing his attention once more. "So you and Kamukura-san are twins."
Hinata tensed at how abruptly his tone had shifted. It wasn't even a question, he was absolutely certain of what he was saying. Was that why he had been staring at him for so long?
"Oh, um, yeah. That's right. My name is Hajime Hinata. Maybe you still need, um..." Hinata awkwardly extended his hand again, but this time Komaeda deigned to stand up on his own, pointedly ignoring the offer of help.
Whatever. That was the last time Hajime let his good manners get the better of him.
"Who would have thought that Kamukura-san would have a completely ordinary, talentless brother from the reserve course..." Now standing upright, Nagito was no longer looking up at Hajime from below, yet his gaze was now brimming with something far too reminiscent of condescension. "Tell me, Hinata-kun, have you ever felt resentful that all the talent went to your brother simply by birthright? Don't you find it unfair?" A creepy little laugh escaped his lips. "Though what am I even saying? You are merely a stepping stone on the path to a great purpose. Your worries are nothing compared to that. Just as mine are. Perhaps under different circumstances, I might even feel pity for you. But your very existence is so ironic that it makes me want to laugh. Hey, you think so too, don't you, Hinata-kun?"
Under any other circumstances, Hajime would have simply laughed it off out of habit, the way he used to whenever one of his classmates pointed out that his brother was leagues better than him. But the fact that Komaeda had said such brazen and degrading words to him barely a minute after they'd met was so outrageous that Hajime didn't immediately register what he was supposed to say in response.
"...There's something seriously wrong with your head, isn't there?" Hinata inwardly groaned. That was not how you were supposed to talk to lunatics. Wrong answer.
"How rude. Though what else should one expect from a reserve course student. To think, spending your entire life beside the ultimate hope and yet lacking even basic manners." Nagito cast him an offended look, as though he weren't the one who had just delivered a tirade about how worthless Hajime's life was.
"You-" He stopped himself. "You know what, never mind." He took a deep breath and let it out. There was no point in trying to prove anything to people like this. There was a more important issue at hand. Hajime turned his head sharply, redirecting his attention. "And you. Right now you're going to explain to me where the hell you've been all damn week, and why, when you finally decided to show up, you dragged him along."
Izuru gave him a weary look, as if he were about to do the entire world a favor rather than simply explain himself to his own brother. "Komaeda's luck is stronger than mine. Wherever I go, he finds me. Hajime, handle this."
"And why exactly should I be the one dealing with your problems?" Hinata stamped his foot in irritation, not particularly caring that he was making a family scene in front of other people. "What, is being stalked by your admirer somehow getting in the way of your noble pursuit of absolute nothingness? And now I'm supposed to personally entertain him just so your majesty can rest undisturbed?!"
"Exactly." Hajime had long since stopped being able to tell when Izuru simply wanted to dump responsibility onto him, and when he was deliberately setting up a show with Hinata in the leading role. Both were annoying, but the second option usually meant he should be more careful about where his own words might lead. How fortunate that Komaeda had already managed to piss him off, and he no longer cared.
"Why don't you just-"
Hinata didn't get to finish, as Nagito beside him let out a surprised gasp, as if a brilliant idea had just struck him. His words came out in a rush, almost breathless."Now that you mention it, that does make sense. Who would have thought, Hinata-kun actually said something truly sensible!" Hajime slowly turned his head toward Komaeda, not entirely sure where he was going with this. His eyes were unnaturally dark, and Hinata did not like that look one bit. "A worthless nobody like myself has no right to distract Kamukura-san from his important matters. Please forgive my selfishness in troubling you all this time, I simply couldn't think of a better way to learn more. Besides, I'm far too stupid to understand the ultimate hope's way of thinking just by observing him from afar. But isn't there no better way to get to know someone than by speaking with the people they grew up with?"
A carefree smile played on Komaeda's lips, as if turning the next week of Hinata's life into hell wasn't currently part of his plans. Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose with a frown. He needed to think of something fast. Now.
"...Komaeda, you know, you don't have to shift your attention away from Izuru so quickly. You're chasing after hope, aren't you? It would be rather inconsistent of you to waste your time on a talentless nobody like me."
Humiliating, but he'd taken his shot.
"Well, if you're going to put yourself down like that, Hinata-kun, then I really shouldn't listen to you after all."
Miss. Well, at least he'd tried.
Hajime shifted a helpless glance toward Chiaki, who had been silently watching the whole scene. She merely offered him a sympathetic smile. "Good luck, Hinata-kun."
It seemed he was about to start hating the word "luck" just as much as "boring" and "predictable."
Hajime decided to look into Izuru's shameless eyes one more time, only to discover that he had already managed to slip away unnoticed.
Great.
"...Forgive me, Nanami, but I don't think I'll be able to play with you today."
"I understand, Hinata-kun."
And on that lovely note, he decided to finally make his exit.
Completely ignoring the existence of Nagito standing right beside him, Hajime walked briskly toward the dorms.
The sound of hurried footsteps followed right behind him.
"Not even going to say goodbye to me? Though I've already drawn my conclusions about your manners."
Of course this day couldn't end so easily. "What do you want from me."
"For now, I won't try to extract information about Kamukura-san from you," well, at least there was that, "you're far too tense at the moment. It seems you didn't inherit any of your brother's serenity."
"Is that why you're following me right now? Just to put me down next to him? Well, congratulations. So far you haven't said anything new that I haven't heard before. Now get lost."
Hajime didn't slow his pace, taking a small sadistic pleasure in the way Komaeda was gasping for breath behind him.
"Hinata-kun, would you mind-"
Hajime stopped abruptly. Nagito let out a relieved breath behind him, having nearly crashed into his back. They had already reached the reserve course dormitory, and Hinata had no desire to be followed all the way to his room. "Do you have something else to say?"
"I always have something to say. But right now, I'd like to convey just one thing to you, simply to clarify something in advance." Nagito suddenly drew closer, placing his hands on Hajime's shoulders. Hinata suppressed the instinct to pull away, not wanting to show discomfort. "I want you to understand once and for all that my interest in you stems solely from your relation to Kamukura-san. I rarely feel hatred toward anyone. Talentless people aren't to blame that the only useful thing they can do in their worthless lives is to become stepping stones for the hope of ultimates. However, you, Hinata-kun, and your attitude... something about your carefree demeanor toward the one you share blood with irritates me somewhat, I simply cannot accept it. Perhaps what irritates me is the fact that, were I in your place, I would do everything in my power for Kamukura-san's future. If you didn't share the same face, I might console myself with the hope that the two of you couldn't possibly be related. But to think, you share the appearance of the ultimate hope, and yet you feel no sense of obligation toward him whatsoever. Truth be told, Hinata-kun, I don't understand how you haven't killed yourself, fully aware of your own worthlessness."
Wow.
They had known each other for less than an hour, and this flood of unhinged rambling was already crashing down on him.
Of all the insults he had heard in his entire life, this was on some new level. Hajime stoically suppressed the tremor running through his body and tried to push Komaeda back, who by the end of his speech had been literally a couple of centimeters from his face. Nagito obediently stepped away.
"Is that everything you wanted to say to me?" Hinata hoped his voice didn't betray how he actually felt.
"...Yes, I suppose that's all."
Thank god.
Hajime was just about to tell Nagito to get lost, but fortunately, the other boy had no intention of continuing his chase.
"Ah, yes. If Hinata-kun was worried about accidentally revealing where he lives to me, then rest assured! Thanks to my luck, I'll be able to find you anytime, anywhere, regardless!"
Giving Hinata one last serene smile, Komaeda finally left.
Hajime could feel his eye twitch.