New Hope

New Hope - Chapter Twenty-Five

Nagito was busy doing nothing, waiting for Hajime to finish working so he could talk to him about earlier.

Yes, Nagito is not the sort of person to completely go off on people.

Well...

He's not the sort of person to go off on his boyfriend.

Nagito smiled, remembering that joyous fact. Everyday spent with Hajime has been the best of his life - his luck finally making up for all the shit he's had to deal with since childhood. Without Hajime, Nagito expected he's probably be dead by now - but now he doesn't even need to worry about his disease.

He still believes in his luck - much like he still believes in his hope. They're two things that will never leave.

But with his... midlife crisis revolving hope, for a while Nagito didn't really want to talk to anyone. So for most of the day he's just been sitting and thinking. Honestly even now, Nagito wasn't entirely sure whether he should talk to Hajime or not. He had no idea how much he had changed, how different he's become from who he used to be. He only realised the difference once he was talking with Hajime about the Ultimate Despair.

Nagito sighed, getting up and strolling around the corridors. Something must really be wrong with him-

"M - Monoku - mmfph?!"

"Hajime!" Nagito shouted, immediately turning, and sprinting over to where he heard the sound from. His chest burned, he wasn't used to running like this.

But he couldn't lose him.

He couldn't lose Hajime!

"Thanks guys." He heard Hajime say quietly, causing Nagito to stop in his tracks, and walk slower to the room nearest him - the storage room. He knows a few people - like Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, Sonia and others - are fine with his existence, but a few others aren't quite there yet... so to stop any chaos before it begins, Nagito hides outside the room. Yes, he knows he's eavesdropping, but this was for his boyfriend's safety.

He doesn't stay for long before Hajime stumbled out the room, guiding Akane, who was holding the box with one hand. Since it was only with one hand, and Nagito was lucky enough for her to have picked it up where the scribbles would appear on the side he was most easily able to spot - Nagito was able to read what was written.

"Oh, the shout was because the scribble looks like Monokuma..." Nagito trailed off, before spotting Hajime's name. As he continued to think, he stalked Akane and Hajime back to Hajime's bedroom, and watched Akane leave on her own, followed by Hajime. Considering no one would want to play a horrid prank, it must've been made before they all woke up from the game. Which means...

... there's a high chance it was made by someone filled with despair.

"Maybe the people who experimented on him at Hope's Peak? Or Junko's devoted followers..." A thought struck him. "Oh God, what if it was one of us who made whatever is in the box - while we were worshiping Junko...?!" A shudder coursed through him at the reminder he used to serve despair.

Nagito sighed, pressing a hand to his face, as Hajime re-entered the room, carrying a small knife (presumably to open the parcel). Either way, he can't really talk to Hajime right now - with all this confusion surrounding him about who he really is. All this hope has really gotten to his head...

"Argh-!"

Never mind.

"Hajime!" Nagito shouted, rushing inside the bedroom.

"N - Nagito?" Hajime responded, hands pressed to his face as he hit the wall and slid to the floor.

"Hajime!" Nagito repeated, rushing up to him. As Hajime removed his hands from his face, Nagito sharply inhaled. "Hajime... your eyes are split."

"What?" Hajime rushed to grab a mirror and saw what Nagito said was true. One eye was the usual green, and the other red. As Hajime slowly calmed down, his red eye gradually turned back to green.

"What happened, Hajime?" Nagito asked, pressing a hand on Hajime's shoulder, which was quickly shrugged off.

"I don't know!" Hajime said loudly, making Nagito flinch. "I - I looked inside and I was forced to recoil away! These tapes are... are blood splattered! They're probably something to do with Izuru..."

"Tapes?" Nagito asked, and Hajime pointed to the box.

As Nagito inched towards the box and took a peek inside, Hajime explained. "The box contains these video tapes inside. They're probably to do with my experimentation or something, considering how violently Izuru forced me to move away." Hajime gently pressed his fingers to his forehead. "I've got a bit of a headache now..."

"Do you want me to get you some water?" Nagito immediately asked. Hajime shook his head.

"No." He said. "I want to watch these videos first." He paused. "I - I want to watch them... alone, if that's okay."

"O - Oh." Nagito whispered, feeling quite hurt. "I... I understand, Hajime."

Hajime struggled - but succeeded - in lifting the box of video tapes and plodding down the room to the nearest secluded place to watch them. Nagito watched him sadly, muttering to himself in the empty bedroom.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!

It's essentially the previous chapter but in Nagito's perspective.... with a bit extra at the end. Hajime has to come to terms with his past instead of ignoring it or sheltering the blame on others.

I realise I haven't ended up explaining it, so while anyone could really have set the tapes there, I believe it's one of the remnants of despair who did so, before they got placed into the Hope Restoration Programme, probably under Junko's instruction.

Anyways, I publish another chapter later today!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊