Chapter Text
“Are you sure you will be alright?” Sonia asks worriedly.
The connection isn’t the best, the sound slightly distorted and the screen periodically glitching; so it’s almost impressive that Sonia’s voice still manages to come through sounding melodic. Even with the poor quality and jerky imagery Hajime can still make out her furrowed eyebrows and soft frown as she chews on her bottom lip, the skin already red from irritation. That habit had only started about two months ago. Back when the Future Foundation had started calling on them for missions.
Hajime regrets that a little.
“We’ll be fine,” Hajime reassures her for the third time.
Sonia smiles valiantly at his attempt. She lets out a soft sigh and raises a hand to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I know,” she assures with what Hajime has mentally dubbed as her ‘Princess Smile’. A smile that’s there for the show of it rather than any true measure of how she’s feeling. “I just like to hear you say it. It’s more reassuring than hearing it from myself.”
“Understandable,” Hajime says wryly, turning slightly in his chair to look back at his classmates playing what looks to be an extreme version of Go-Fish. Complete with death threats.
Komaeda’s winning, of course, his most unassuming smile firmly in place and Fuyuhiko looking only a couple moments away from flipping the table as he spits curses at his hand of cards. Gundham is muttering something about dark magic, eyeing Komaeda warily from behind his scarf. Peko and the Imposter share an exasperated look over everyone’s heads.
Fuyuhiko throws his cards at Komaeda in disgust. The cards stop short of actually reaching him and flutter down onto the table.
“Are you fucking cheating?” Fuyuhiko demands, “How the hell do you keep winning?”
Komaeda gives his most irritatingly mild smile. “Luck.”
Hajime coughs to hide his laugh.
Fuyuhiko crosses his arms. “No, you know what? This isn’t luck. This is fucking bullshit.”
There has likely never been a more accurate description of Komaeda’s Ultimate Talent. And Hajime’s Ultimate Talent is literally every talent in existence. He’s the reigning king of bullshit at this point.
(In retrospect, Komaeda’s reaction to the Neo World Program makes a lot more sense. Mysteriously kidnapped and transported to a tropical island paradise by a talking rabbit? A bit unusual but probably barely even a blip on Komaeda’s radar. A life and death killing game? Just another Tuesday in the life of Nagito Komaeda: Luck Edition.)
On Komaeda’s left Gundham gives Komaeda a suspicious look. “Indeed,” Gundham intones gravely into his scarf. “What Dark Force do you command to posses such power?”
“I couldn’t possibly begin to guess,” Komaeda says with a light laugh and close eyed smile. He raises his hands in surrender, his metal arm making a whirring noise at the movement.
If Hajime ignores everything he knows about him Komaeda can easily be mistaken as harmless. It’s decidedly unsettling.
“I don’t know why you expected this to end any differently,” the Imposter, still dressed as Togami, tells Fuyuhiko wryly as Peko pats Fuyuhiko’s shoulder comfortingly. Fuyuhiko definitely does not pout.
They’re all hopeless, Hajime concludes fondly.
Sonia must have either gotten a glimpse of the chaos happening behind him or read the expression on his face too well because she giggles, bringing his attention back to the screen. Her smile is easier now, looser, and realer for it. Hajime smiles back, shrugging.
“Have you talked to Kazuichi’s group?” Sonia asks.
Hajime leans back in his seat. “They’re fine. Kazuichi’s confident everything will go right. To be honest I’m more worried about Mikan being stuck with all those big personalities.”
A team with Ibuki, Akane, and Nekomaru with Mikan sounded like a disaster in Hajime’s opinion. But the three of them were powerhouses, albeit lacking in any form of subtlety. Which was why they were guarding Mikan and Kuzuichi, who’s ultimate skills were too useful to be left unprotected in enemy territory.
Sonia laughs uneasily at that, some measure of humor still present as she says, “We’ll have to apologize to her later.”
Hajime hums in agreement. “You’ll look after everything back home?” Hajime asks because Sonia does better when she has a mission to keep her from feeling helpless.
“Of course!” Sonia answers firmly, smiling so much Hajime has to resist the urge to squint at the brightness of it. “And you all shall be careful right?”
“Of course,” Hajime echoes back and very carefully doesn’t look at the burgundy scarf around her neck (straight from Gundham’s closet if Hajime isn’t wrong. He rarely is anymore). He already knows better than anyone what’s at stake.
Sonia’s beaming smile softens and-
“God,” comes Saionji’s voice from over the video feed, “I’m going to puke. Are you two losers ever going to be done talking?”
Mahiru is already scolding Saionji off camera as Sonia delicately raises a hand to hide her small grin and Hajime lets out a sigh.
From behind him there’s the soft sound of footsteps that Hajime knows are inaudible to everyone else. Komaeda makes so little noise he’s like a ghost most of the time. Hajime turns slightly to angle a questioning look at him.
Komaeda smiles unassumingly back. “I got kicked out,” he says lightly and Hajime squints at him.
He can’t tell if he’s joking or not.
Komaeda doesn’t seem upset, but that doesn’t really tell Hajime anything at all. Unlike most people Komaeda doesn’t seem to realize he can be unhappy about something the normal way. ‘Normal’ not including Komaeda’s usual coping methods of attempted murder and bomb threats.
Hajime’s working on that.
Before Hajime can ask if he’s okay though Komaeda’s gaze flickers to the screen. He places a hand on Hajime’s chair to lean forward. Hajime feels hyper aware of it. (He is with most things lately).
“Ah, Miss Sonia,” Komaeda says with unfailing politeness (and no surprise Hajime notes), “may I ask what you’re calling for?”
Sonia smiles back easily, “Of course you may ask. I was just checking in before your mission.”
Not for the first Hajime feels a rush of gratefulness towards Sonia.
Komaeda’s relationship with the rest of their class is shaky at best, with Hajime being forced to act as both a buffer and bridge between Komaeda and, well, everyone else. Sonia, at least, is on more stable ground with Komaeda than everyone else even if it’s only out of politeness. Sonia is by far the best blessing Hajime could have asked for really.
“Well, I’m sure everything will be fine,” Komaeda answers with a bright smile that still feels subdued. “Hajime will be with us after all.”
“Don’t jinx it, dumbass!” Inserts Saionji’s voice, the camera feed going blurry as Saionji physically wrangles the computer screen towards her.
Komaeda’s already backing down, hands raised in a placating gesture and sheepish smile firmly in place. “That wasn’t my intention.”
The way Saionji glares at Komaeda speaks volumes. It almost looks as if she’s judging his soul and finding it lacking anything remotely appealing. Which, in all honesty, is fair.
“We’ll be careful,” Hajime reiterates before Saionji can make it worse.
Saionji huffs as if she knows what Hajime’s doing, scowling at the camera. She jabs a finger at the screen, “You idiots all better come back alive or I’ll never forgive you! Ever!”
“Thanks...?” Hajime offers drily, fairly certain that was Saionji’s version of expressing concern.
She huffs again looking decidedly unsatisfied even as the video feed moves away from her and back to Sonia, who looks faintly frazzled but decidedly amused.
“My apologies Hajime,” Sonia offers, voice high with barely contained mirth.
Hajime runs a hand through his short hair, offering an uptick of his lips and says, “It’s fine. I know how Saionji is.” Hajime dutifully ignores said person’s protests in the background. His watch beeps. “And that’s our cue.”
Any pleasure in Sonia’s eyes dies but her smile, however brittle, holds up. “Of course. I did not mean to keep you so long. Have a safe mission, I hope everything goes well.”
“Thanks,” Hajime says, more sincerely now. “Do you want to say goodbye to anyone before I go or...?”
For a moment Sonia looks sad and longing, biting her lip as she touches the scarf on her neck, but then it’s gone. Her smile back in place as she says, “No, I have kept you for long enough.”
“Okay,” Hajime agrees, wishing not for the first time that he wasn’t hyper aware of the pain in her smile while lacking all the tools to fix it.
The screen goes black and the hand Komaeda had placed on the back his chair moves away to lightly rest between Hajime’s shoulder blades.
“It’s time then?” Komaeda says lightly, tilting his head towards where the others are sitting.
Hajime smoothly stands up, meeting everyone’s gaze head on. “It’s time.”
Mission Start.