Shining New Hope (Pre-Despair!SDR2xReader)

Friends Do The Dumbest Things.

You don't see Hajime the next day, or the day after that, or even the day after that. It's almost as if he has disappeared off the face of earth. You fiddle with his phone, spinning it around as if it would miraculously give you answers. Gingerly you unlock it, looking down at a picture of you, Chiaki and Hajime. It's blurry and half of Hajime's face has been cut out of the shot, but you and Chiaki are in perfect focus, playing one of her many games.

Chiaki had taken Hajime's disappearance badly too; opting to wait in their usual meeting place, hoping for him to come back. You had chosen to try and physically find him, asking around the reserve course for any information but it was futile.

Standing up from your bed, you walk over to your mirror and put on the necklace that Izayoi gave you. Your eyes drift to the bruise that Juzo gave you, noticing how quickly it's healing compared to the one your step-father had given. Komaeda threw an absolute fit when he saw it, rambling on about how you should be looking after yourself more. You are so caught up in your thoughts that you don't notice a small pair of hands wrap around your wrist until you are pulled half way down the stairs.

"Masa, what are you doing?" You ask, finding yourself being thrown out of the door and into someone's chest. They seem rather surprised, letting out a yelp as they go tumbling backwards; dragging you with them. You can hear your brother laughing in the doorway as he runs over to your side, not helping you in the slightest.

"You're gonna be late!" He calls, running off in the direction of school. You let out a sigh, forgetting that someone is currently trapped underneath you.

"Um... (Y/N)... You can get off of me now." You quickly push yourself off of them and rise to stand up, brushing away some dirt that has made it on to your uniform.

"I'm sorry about that Nagito." You put your hand out for your friend. He grabs it and pulls himself up with a goofy smile on his face. "Someone was being extra annoying this morning." You grumble, glaring at the back of your brother who runs off into the horizon. You start to follow after him, Nagito on your heel.

"Don't worry about it!" He exclaims, elbowing your stomach in a jestful motion. "I've been through worse." He sniggers, causing you to chuckle along with him in agreement. "And then there's this upcoming test which is going to be interesting..." Nagito muses, but the smile drops from his face when he notices you sending him a sour expression. "What?"

"I completely forgot..." You mumble. With everything that has been going on, you had pushed the formative assessments to the back of your mind. "What can a copycat even do in a test?" You continue, feeling a slight panic rise up inside of you. If you don't pass then you get kicked out, if you get kicked out then you become an embarrassment. An endless chain of disaster is all that waits.

Nagito seems to notice this concern, his gaze softening as he reaches out and grabs a hold of your hand; softly rubbing the back of it. "Calm down, you'll be brilliant..." He whispers reassuringly. "And I don't think we'll have to take the exams, with all that's happened." He explains, his eyes lighting up slightly.

"You can't be sure of that, Nagito..." You reason, feeling Nagito's grip tighten slightly on your hand.

"I am. I'm the ultimate lucky student after all." His mocking tone returning as he gets a smile to drift across your face.

"I'm pretty sure that luck swings both ways." You grumble, slightly concerned about any future actions he might take. Nagito has never been one for a relaxed attitude when it comes to helping his friends, especially when it comes to his rather extreme concept of hope. The smile on his face turns into a grin as he starts to run off towards school. "Nagito!" You shout, trying to grab his attention. "Please don't do anything stupid!" You continue to yell, pretty sure that he can't hear you.