New Hope

New Hope - Chapter Twelve

"Hajime...?"

"Hajime?"

"..."

Nothing Nagito had been saying was reaching Hajime. No matter how many times he tried to convince Hajime - and himself - that Hajime being Izuru didn't matter, Hajime just kept falling deeper into despair. He gave Hajime some pyjamas, also grabbing a pair and they both got dressed, and headed to bed.

"Hajime, I'm sorry that I've caused you so much pain." Nagito whispered to him, tears springing from his eyes once again. "If I hadn't reacted so harshly to the realisation then maybe you wouldn't be in this state..." He had no idea how true that statement really was. "I promise I'm not upset or anything - I'm just trying to decipher you a bit more..."

"What do you mean by that?" Hajime coldly asked. Nagito jumped, not expecting him to answer.

"I mean... do you remember what you used to be like? Do you...is your talent really Ultimate Hope? N - Not that I mind whether you have a talent..." As Nagito continued to stammer his way through an explanation, Hajime realised what he actually meant.

"You're worried about the dynamic of our friendship changing..." He muttered. The sudden flinch Nagito gave him made everything clear. "You're worried that because I have a talent that seems really special it makes you feel worse about yourself, not good enough to spend time with me... or something like that?"

Nagito looked away. "You make me feel special - but all that attention should have gone to someone more worthy. An actual symbol of hope would've been preferable for you I'm sure - instead of hanging out with me..."

"Nagito, you're a symbol of hope too, please don't forget that." Hajime said quietly, not wanting to wake the others up. "You... you don't hate me or anything? I mean - I'm Izuru Kamekura - a murderer, the mastermind, the evilest person to have ever existed - I mean except for Junko... probably..."

"Hajime..." Nagito muttered, only for a scream to cut him off.

They both jumped up - Hajime's self-absorbed state mostly gone with concern replacing it - and sprinted in the direction of the sound.

Mikan's room.

"You piece of shit!" They heard arguing as they approached, and Hajime wasted no time in kicking the door down.

"Hi... Hiyoko?" Hajime muttered, seeing the hot-headed girl angrily screaming at Mikan. "You're awake?"

She paused in his screaming to glance at the two of them.

"Hi Hajime, Nagito. And no, I'm not awake, I just somehow turned up here through sleepwalking." She said sarcastically, before turning back to Mikan.

"I don't care if you feel sorry! Your want of forgiveness won't do shit on me, you murderer!"

"I... I genuinely am sorry... After talking with Hajime and Nagito, I realised that my beloved really is gone... and... and now I'm alone. I don't want to be alone. Even though I miss my beloved I still feel appalled at my actions." She trailed off, and Nagito - much to the shock of Hajime - stood up for her.

"Not that I want her to have any reason to worm out of this..." Nagito said to Hiyoko. "But Mikan was under the influence of the despair disease. Any actions weren't technically her own."

Hiyoko scoffed. "I don't care. She killed me - and Ibuki! I'm never going to forgive her!" And with that she ran out.

"H - Hiyoko!" Hajime shouted, but she didn't stop running. Hajime sighed, turning back to Nagito. "Not that I mind, but why did you stand up for Mikan? I thought you didn't like her?"

"It's not that I like her, but-"

"You don't like me?! You're just a big meanie, Nagito!" Mikan cried. "Hajime, tell Nagito that he's being a big meanie! I'm going to tell everyone how mean Nagito is, and they'll hate him forever - if they don't already." She giggled and Hajime felt sick.

"What?! I..." Hajime couldn't find it in himself to side with Mikan.

So he didn't.

"Mikan, no! Nagito's not mean, he's spent ages with the others, trying to convince them of that fact. Please don't start this."

"Okay I won't." Mikan agreed. Hajime sighed thankfully, and turned to leave, when Mikan grabbed his wrist.

"If!" She said, another smile adorning her face. "If you give me a kiss."

Hajime ripped his hand out of hers, a disgusted expression on his face. "No!"

"Hmm? So you don't care about Nagito?"

Hajime paused. "I... I..."

"If you don't kiss me, I'll tell all the others about how mean Nagito has been to me! And that simply wouldn't do... would it?"

Hajime felt frozen. He couldn't move. Would Mikan saying these things really affect the others' perspectives of him and Nagito? He didn't really want to risk it, with things finally settling back down to a nice comfortable rest. But... to kiss Mikan... he couldn't even imagine anything close to it - he really, really didn't want to!

A hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"N - Nagito..."

"You are not doing that. Okay?" He said to Hajime, who could do nothing but silently nod in agreement.

Nagito smiled, and then turned back to Mikan.

"We are never coming back to your room again. Got it? Stay the hell away from Hajime."

"What...? No... Wait..." Mikan muttered, hands slowly reaching for them both, but grasping nothing as her door shut, leaving her once again alone.

Hey guys! So I've got work today and while I normally have one new chapter every 24 hours, if I didn't upload super early then I wouldn't be able to upload a chapter for another 12 hours or so. So here we are XD

I'll probably upload a second chapter later today when I return from work so I can get back to the uploading schedule I prefer (publishing in the evenings instead of the mornings).

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I never intended for Mikan to be this bad but... ehh. To be honest while I do like Mikan and find her important for the story, I've never been the biggest fan of her lol.

See you guys later today!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊