Chapter Text
For some, magic was something that came naturally, something that simply awakened in them at an early age.
“Hey…”
However, magic could be awakened… unnaturally as well. With a particular forbidden spell, a dark magic user could infuse some of their magic into another person. Most would argue that it wasn’t worth the pain. But for a certain kind of person, pain was a small price to pay for power.
“Can you hear me…?”
Hajime slowly opened his eyes, immediately closing them again as an intense light filled his fuzzy vision.
He heard the voice again, accompanied by the shrill chirping of birds all around him.
“Are you okay?”
Hajime opened his eyes again, blinking rapidly. The figure standing over him blocked his view of tall trees stretching upwards to a bright blue sky.
“…You seem pretty out of it. Do you know where you are right now?”
Just as his eyes were drifting shut again, he suddenly became acutely aware of a dull throbbing sensation on the back of his head, and he groaned in pain.
“…Hey, are you listening?”
He pushed himself up and rubbed his head.
He was sitting on a bed of yellow flowers, feeling as if he’d just fallen from a great height.
But as he tried to recall exactly how he’d gotten there, he found that he couldn’t. He felt like his head was stuffed with cotton, and forming a single thought was the most difficult thing in the world. He groaned again in frustration.
“Oh, your head!” The person above him sucked in air through their teeth. “That looks pretty bad. Hold still.”
Hajime finally looked up to see who the voice belonged to. Who he saw was a pale, lanky man with fluffy white hair splaying out in all directions.
He was wearing a white tunic with a belt secured across his body from his shoulder, connecting with the belt around his waist. He stood on long legs that wore tall, brown leather boots pulled over his dark trousers. His boots had clearly seen better days; they were worn and caked with mud.
A loose, travel-stained cloak of green cloth was draped over his body as well, and before Hajime could react, he reached into its pocket, pulled out a short dagger, and plunged it into his arm.
To his further horror, the man stepped towards him, positioned his arm over Hajime’s head, and let his blood pour onto him.
“What the hell!?” Hajime shrieked as he scrambled away.
He reached up to try to get the blood out of his hair, but when his hands only touched a dry softness, he looked back up at the strange man, confused.
To Hajime’s frustration, he just laughed, “Haha, sorry about that! I guess I should’ve warned you first.”
His voice was breathy and calm, and while his relaxed demeanor should’ve put Hajime at ease, it just pissed him off even more.
“How does your head feel now?”
Right as he was about to tell him that it obviously felt worse because he had just emptied an open wound over it, he realized that the throbbing pain had actually vanished completely.
“It feels… better,” he said, surprised. “But.. what did you…?”
“My blood has healing properties,” the man explained, standing with his arms dangling at his sides. He didn’t seem bothered at all by the blood dripping down into his palm, but the sight made Hajime wince. “It’s pretty lousy magic, though.”
He laughed again, sardonically, as Hajime suddenly perked up.
‘Magic?’ He thought. ‘But, to have to heal people that way… how unfortunate.’
“Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Nagito Komaeda.” He reached out a hand—the one not covered in blood—to Hajime to help him up.
“I’m.. Hajime Hinata,” he reciprocated slowly, taking the hand offered to him.
He stood on shaky legs and took in his surroundings. Tall trees encircled the two men. Sunlight bounced off the healthy leaves and reflected into his eyes. He rubbed them again, blearily.
A steep cliff towered over the grassy clearing on one side, but besides that, just trees. No sign of civilization for miles.
“You must’ve fallen from up there,” Nagito hummed, looking in the direction of the cliff. “Do you remember anything?”
“Not much,” Hajime huffed.
“Yeah, I thought so with an injury like that…” Nagito mused grimly. “My magic isn't great enough to heal memories.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Hajime cut him off accusingly, despite there definitely being more pressing issues at hand.
“Well, I was going for a nice walk in the forest when I was suddenly hit by a falling log,” He started.
Hajime gave him an incredulous look as if to say, ‘Is that supposed to be a joke?’
“It knocked me over, and I ended up rolling for a pretty long time…” he went on with a strained smile on his face.
The story was obviously not true, but the casualness with which Nagito told it almost made him believe it.
“It was as if I could hear someone singing far away, ‘One more time, one more time, I'll roll along toda-‘“ Nagito’s voice cut off suddenly, his gaze fixed on the ground where Hajime was lying.
“Hey, Hajime, is that…”
“Huh?” Hajime followed his gaze to the bed of yellow flowers where a small, silver ring rested among them, glimmering in the sun.
It looked strangely out of place, but he reached down to pick it up without hesitation as Nagito continued to gawk at it.
“…is that.. the Hope’s Peak ring? Hajime, do you know what this means?” A wide smile spread across his face. It was slightly unsettling.
“Uh, no?” He replied, dumbly. He looked down at the ring in his hand again, feeling a soft warmth resonating from it.
It didn’t look like anything too special. A strange emblem that Hajime didn’t recognize was engraved on it, but besides that, it was plain silver. Whatever had Nagito so excited was completely beyond him.
“You must be the one!” He exclaimed, suddenly. “The one chosen to defeat the despair plaguing the world! The hope destined to overcome despair lies within you, Hajime! The ring has chosen you!” Nagito was hugging himself tightly, a dizzying look in his eyes and a quivering smile stretched across his face.
Hajime stood, stupefied. He was now even more confused than before. The person Nagito was before didn't seem to be the same one standing in front of him.
“Do you.. mind if I…” Nagito was now closer to him, reaching towards the ring. His hands shook as if he were afraid to touch it, but his fingers were extended desperately.
No words left Hajime’s mouth, staying trapped in his throat from confusion. He dropped the ring into Nagito’s open, outstretched hands silently, and heard his breathing grow even heavier as he cradled it.
“I get to witness the absolute hope that lies ahead with my own two eyes. I really am lucky! Someone like me will be there when hope and despair collide. Thank you, Hajime, for giving such an opportunity to a lowly piece of trash like me.”
His face looked almost orgasmic at this point, and a bead of saliva on the corner of his lips threatened to dribble down his chin.
Yep. This guy was a lunatic. Hajime was sure of that now.
“Please, allow me to come with you on your journey to defeat the ultimate despair. Use me however you see fit! It would be my honor to be a stepping stone for your hope to shine!”
“My... journey?” Hajime echoed, trying his best to process Nagito’s erratic rambling. “What are you even..”
“Ah, forgive me, you must have forgotten all about the tragedy when you fell.” Nagito seemed to have somewhat snapped out of his blissful delusion for a second.
“Tragedy..?” Hajime repeated once again, feeling even more lost than when he first woke up.
“But we should get going and find the city nearby. The sooner your hope overpowers the despair plaguing the world, the better!” Nagito exclaimed brightly, grabbing Hajime’s arm and pulling him along in a direction he seemingly chose at random.
He wondered how Nagito was so confident about going the right way, but when he asked, all he said was “Well, I'm lucky,” like he didn’t just get hit by a falling log and roll down a cliff.
>Nagito joined the party!
Hajime was able to sort of piece together the facts about the tragedy between Nagito’s strange cacophony of self-deprecation and optimistic rambling as they walked together.
He told him about Makoto Naegi, the supposed ‘Ultimate Hope’ who saved the world from despair one thousand years ago when Junko Enoshima, a gifted magic user, learned forbidden spells to absorb the magical power from the world. And while Hajime failed to see how that was relevant now, he listened to Nagito’s excited recollection with hesitance.
According to Nagito, similar events had been taking place recently as a remnant of despair, supposedly inspired by Junko, began trying to continue her plan by stealing magical power.
“Do you understand now, Hajime? You’re the chosen one! Born to overcome despair and bring hope to the world once again!” Nagito praised. “For what other reason would you have that ring?”
Hajime didn’t really believe in things like destiny or prophecy. The idea that someone could be born to do something was utterly ridiculous to him. Furthermore, he wasn’t exactly sure how much he could trust Nagito in the first place.
His unusual obsession with hope defeating despair didn’t seem malicious, but it definitely wasn’t normal by any means.
“This is.. a lot to take in,” Hajime admitted. “I mean, why me? I don’t think I’m anything special; I don’t even remember what kind of magic I have.”
He only fully acknowledged those words once they left his mouth. His magic? That’s strange… why couldn't he remember? That seems like an important thing to remember.
He felt desperate and so, so confused. He was following a clearly insane stranger through a forest after waking up on the ground without any memory of how he got there.
The reality of his situation was just now becoming apparent to him and coming down full force to crush him completely.
He slowed his pace ever so slightly to walk further behind Nagito.
“I’m sure you’ll remember eventually! You must have light magic just like the ultimate hope.” Nagito mused.
Hajime didn’t give a reply to that, keeping a safe distance in case Nagito was actually leading him to a cabin in the woods instead of a city.
They continued on in silence—well, relative silence. Nagito was muttering to himself things like ‘so warm’ as he continued to fondle the ring.
Hajime didn’t mind having him hold it. It seemed to be making him happy (in a strange, obsessive way, but happy nonetheless), and Hajime didn’t exactly understand how it was such an important object in the first place.
If the ring itself was magical, couldn’t anyone use it to seal the dark magic?
Hajime was about to ask Nagito just that but decided against it at the last minute. He didn’t trust Nagito to give him a straight answer that didn't turn into him raving about Hajime’s hope and supposed destiny.
Before Hajime knew it, he was pulled out of his thoughts by distant noise. He looked up and saw a gate where the trees grew less dense, and the forest ended.
Nagito stood in front of it, talking to two women in armor, standing guard.
He heaved a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding, and walked over to them to listen in on the conversation.
“Ya got lost again?” A tan woman with spiky, chestnut hair said. By her tone, Hajime guessed that she was familiar with Nagito and his antics.
Nagito laughed lightly, “Yep! But this time I got lucky!”
As Hajime stepped closer, the other guard whipped her head towards him, swishing her grey twin braids.
“State your name and business,” she commanded, her scarlet eyes narrowing as she began to reach for the sword on her back.
“It’s alright, Peko!” Nagito interrupted brightly, holding his open hands out in front of him. “His name is Hajime. He was unconscious in the forest when I met him and doesn’t remember anything. I’m gonna show him around the town.”
Hajime averted his eyes from the two guards, as if he were guilty of something.
Nagito spoke evenly and calmly, but the way he described their meeting would sound suspicious coming out of anyone’s mouth.
To his surprise, however, Peko moved her hand back down to rest at her side, though her eyes still remained trained on Hajime.
Although they didn't seem closer than mere acquaintances, she seemingly had a fair bit of trust in Nagito’s word. It made Hajime feel a little better about trusting the man himself.
“He doesn’t remember anything at all? You sure he’s not with them?” the brown-haired woman spoke again.
Them? Hajime looked over at Nagito for answers, but his lips were sealed tight with a placid smile.
“Eh, oh well. Probably not.” She said resolutely, letting the topic go way too quickly in Hajime’s opinion.
Peko ignored her, moving towards the gate to open it. “Stay vigilant. Strange things have been happening.” was all she left them with as they passed through.
ꕤ ꕤ ꕤ
The two men walked in silence for a while. Hajime gawked at the unfamiliar buildings and shops while he let Nagito lead the way, unsure what 'show him around the town' meant.
After a few minutes, he spoke up, “Why didn’t you tell them I have the ring? Don’t you think they would've been less suspicious if they knew I’m the ‘chosen one’?” he held up air quotes mockingly.
Nagito chuckled lightly, keeping his eyes trained on the road ahead. "You have to be more careful, Hajime."
Great. More cryptic answers.
Hajime rolled his eyes, wishing someone would say something that made sense for once.
The streets became more congested as Nagito led Hajime to a market with bustling stalls. Shopkeepers stood near their storefronts, beckoning customers or engaging in friendly conversation with potential buyers.
"Ah, here it is," Nagito stopped in front of a stall with fruits and other produce displayed inside wooden baskets.
"We're buying food?"
"We'll pass through the Novoselic Kingdom on the way to the Danganronpa Kingdom, where I believe the Ultimate Despair resides. We need to bring some provisions with us as it'll take quite a while to get there." Nagito explained as he casually browsed the selection, picking up an apple and inspecting it.
'Oh, this is actually happening,' Hajime thought.
Though it may have been cruel to entertain the white-haired man's delusions for so long already, Hajime wasn't planning on actually saving the world.
Ignorant of Hajime's unwillingness, Nagito picked out a few apples and a jar of strawberry jam and set them onto the counter, smiling politely at the stall's owner.
On instinct, Hajime jumped to search his pockets for money, hoping his act of goodwill would somehow cancel out all the disappointment he'd cause Nagito once he told him that there was no way in hell he was going with him to another kingdom.
"Please don't inconvenience yourself over something so trivial," Nagito intruded. "Allow me."
Hajime sighed inwardly, but didn't put up a fight when all he was able to produce from his pockets were two copper coins and a piece of lint.
Nagito pulled a small drawstring bag from his rugged rucksack and set it on the counter with a thud.
"Fifteen gold coins—will that suffice?"
The shopkeeper's face dropped. "Fif- fifteen?...Gold? Sir, these items are only worth three silver coins," he scrambled.
Nagito hummed, "How unfortunate. I'm afraid I don't have any silver coins. Surely you don't mind accepting a gold coin as payment instead?"
The merchant hesitantly agreed, sputtering out expressions of gratitude, in shock at his customer's generosity.
His voice gradually blended with the noise of the busy street as the two adventurers left the stall, Nagito's purchases safely stowed away in his backpack.
"Drunkards tend to bet a lot of money on inane things like luck-based games," Nagito began, feeling Hajime's questioning eyes on him.
"Almost every time I play Poker, I get pocket aces, but I'm not allowed back to any of the bars in this city," he admitted, laughing lightly as if recalling pleasant memories instead of the reason every alcoholic in the city would shank him on sight.
Hajime was dragged begrudgingly to numerous other stalls, awkwardly idling next to Nagito, watching as he tried to decide which type of bread would keep the longest in his bag, and cringing each time he paid in gold, earning appropriate reactions from the shopkeepers.
As he observed a butcher wrap raw, salted cuts of meat in thick paper, he noticed the sun begin to dip over the horizon.
He'd been dragged all over the market for hours, and his feet were starting to ache.
Uncomfortably, he shifted his weight back and forth a few times before realizing that the pain was equal on both feet.
"We can stay here in the city for tonight," Nagito offered, ambling over to Hajime while he stuffed the meat, and way too many other groceries for an adventure Hajime wouldn't even be going on (though it was probably way too late to tell him that now) into his bag. Hajime was shocked it all fit inside; it had to be incredibly heavy.
"I have a room in the inn we can share," Nagito continued.
"Wait—you don't live here?"
"No, it's best that I don't stay in one place for too long," he said ominously.
Hajime waited for him to explain, but he didn't.
"Oh, there might be one tiny issue though," Nagito interjected. "We'll have to share the bed."
How cliché.
"What? Can't you just… I don't know, pay for another room? Y'know, with all your gold coins?" Hajime groaned, absolutely against the idea of sharing a room—let alone a bed— with a deranged stranger trying to coax him into following him to another kingdom.
"Unfortunately, there aren't any more available rooms in the inn," he chuckled darkly, "just my luck."
"How would you know that??" Hajime stammered.
"There's a bed shortage in Jabberwock Kingdom, Hajime. We have to sleep together."
He then backtracked, "But I understand if you don't want to share a bed with a lowly…"
The last bit of Nagito's sentence was (thankfully) made inaudible by a sudden burst of noise from a few blocks over.
The distant clamor drew closer, and in an instant, crowds of people crashed through the street and cried out warnings amid screams and panicked gasps.
"RUN!"
"THE ROGUE MAGES—THEY'RE HERE!"
Hajime froze, only able to turn his head enough to see Nagito booking it in the opposite direction of the quickly intensifying crowd.
"NAGITO-!? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING TOWARDS THE DANGER?" Hajime shouted, exasperated, knowing he probably couldn't hear him at this point.
Gaining back control of his legs, he ran after him without thinking.
He pushed through screaming human barriers, the limbs of passers-by crashing into his own, surely leaving bruises.
Nagito was far ahead of him but still in sight. He dodged the large groups of people effortlessly and hooked a right, vanishing behind the corner.
As he ran, a disheveled man brandishing a chipped, battered broadsword shot past him, pursuing the crowd.
Nagito briefly caught the look in his eyes as they crossed paths—desperation.
Neither one slowed their pace.
The city's main gate was tightly shut. Its grand arch towered over Nagito as he joined Peko by the otherwise desolate entryway; she was in the middle of creating an impromptu barricade with nearby crates and barrels.
Besides her sudden speech, she didn't give any indication that she noticed him arrive.
"They don't possess any magic, only weapons. I trust that Akane will overpower them easily," she explained, noticing his arrival. She lifted a particularly large box and set it down on an open space against the gate with ease. "What are you doing here? You're in the way."
Nagito flashed her a grin and replied calmly, "I was hoping the Despair Queen's predecessor would show themself." he turned towards the neatly stacked blockade, listening to the agonized grunts and cries of pain on the other side. If he really strained his ears, he could pick up faint sounds of cracking as well. "But I sincerely doubt they're here. Akane seems to be handling things just fine. How disappointing."
"Out there, yes. But due to my own hesitation, a few forced their way inside." She finished reinforcing the barrier and reached for her sword, dragging it from its sheath. The sharp, metallic hiss the friction produced seemed to drown out all other noise for a split second. Peko held the sword in front of her steadily, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "It will not happen again. I will protect the young master. No matter the cost."
And with that, she disappeared into the city, disregarding Nagito's intentions completely and hunting down the intruders unfortunate enough to have Peko on their tail.
"Young…." Hajime gasped for breath, staggering as he finally caught up with Nagito, "…master?"
For someone whose wheezy voice sounded not unlike a chain smoker with asthma, Nagito sure did run fast.
"The Kuzuryu Family rules over this kingdom. Peko just so happens to be personally devoted to the heir to the throne. Really, Hajime, I expected you to know at least that much!"
Nagito glanced at Hajime, who was hunched over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. He didn't seem to be in the mood for teasing.
"Anyway, I would love to stay and witness how the royal family's hopes collide with the hopes of their invaders," he started, causing Hajime to groan inadvertently. "But I think we should get going."
"Get.. get going?? You mean-?" Hajime croaked out, whipping his head up to look at Nagito.
"Once the two hopes collide, it may be too dangerous to stay in the city. It would be a shame if your journey for the sake of a greater hope was cut short due to my own luck."
"But why are they even here? Why are they attacking us?"
Nagito paused for a moment. "They're being used."
"…Huh?"
Suddenly, a sound like the sharp crack of a giant whip shot through the city, and a pitchfork of white light shattered the sky into pieces in an instant. Thunder followed hot on its heels, rumbling the ground on which they stood.
Hajime recoiled, his eyes still projecting the afterimage of lightning long after it faded from the darkening sky.
There was no storm, no rain that followed after.
Lightning magic?
Was it already starting?
Between Hajime's unknown magic and Nagito's somewhat counterproductive healing magic, it was clear that they wouldn't be much help in a resistance, let alone be able to defend themselves against their own allies' hazardous spells.
Hajime's legs started pumping before he'd even made up his mind, following Nagito through alleyways and backstreets, the screams sounding like nothing more than a distant memory between the thick layers of bricks and mortar.
A few more shocks of electricity broke through the adrenaline pumping in Hajime's ears on occasion. He stopped paying attention, focusing instead on the dark outline of Nagito's body leading him towards what he could only hope was safety.
As 'I wanna go home' bubbled up in his mind, he came to the unfortunate realization that he had no idea where home was. And as he was now, it was impossible to go there.
Tears pricked at his dry eyes, but the moisture was swept away by the wind before it could fall.
He had no choice in the matter. The ring had chosen him. And where it would take him, he wasn't sure.
But for now, all he had to do was follow where it led: down twisting roads and out the unfamiliar city's back gate.
A dirt path was carved into the dewy grass in front of them, running across soft hills dotted with trees.
For the first time since Hajime woke up, it was almost quiet. It seemed all the fighting was contained in the city for now.
But just as his heart was finally starting to slow, someone called out to him.
"Hajime?" The faint voice made his abused ears ring despite its gentleness.
Hajime turned, locking eyes with a girl standing in the center of the road, just below the gate.
At that moment, a loud boom resounded through the air. It was closer than it was before.
The fiery explosion that framed the girl's figure with a warm, ironically soft light only lasted a moment before dark plumes of smoke began to rise up from behind a building.
To use such powerful, devastating magic in the middle of a residential area—the situation might've been even more dire than Hajime originally thought.
The girl's hair was blown forward by the force of the explosion, tips of ashy pink curling over her face, momentarily concealing her expression of surprise, confusion, and.. relief?
"Who…" Hajime stuttered. She was familiar. He knew he had seen her before. Remember. Why couldn't he remember?
"Who are you?"