#Fuyuhiko and Peko have their own weird bond and Fuyuhiko is also a part of the survivors and Peko and Ibuki are. Ssssomething maybe??

[hajihiko]

Do the rest of the DR 2 gang get implemented into the poly-platonic-romantic-but-mostly-platonic relationship after they wake up or is it a survivors only relationship? (Very funny if everyone was just like "Yep, those 5 sure are close." While they're all friend making out in the corner)(also funny if a 16 person very affectionate friendship sprouted)(anyway is incredible I just wanna know your thoughts)

(Talky talky Tuesday BEGIN)

I think it ends up being a complex melting pot of various types of relationships, some intersect and some don't, they kinda just go with whatever and dont explain themselves to anyone

Tbh I love the idea that like. IN THE FUTURE. They start out maybe bunking 2-and-2 together on the ship, 2 beds per room, but as time goes on boundaries just kinda go poof and eventually it's less "I sleep in my bed" and more "I sleep in whatever bed still has room that I wanna sleep in". Some people are more strict about their space (Peko, Fuyuhiko, Gundham, Mahiru, Ryota fx) and some people just do whatever they feel like (Ibuki, Nekomaru, Akane, Sonia, maybe Teru if he fuckin behaves). Giant floating household of Very Close Ex-Villains.

Who needs socially mandated boundaries when you're outcasts being hunted by the government in a post-apocalyptic society where you're the ONLY people who understand each other (given that everyone else thinks you're super evil)?

But the Survivin' Five always have that special bond between them <3

[ultimatetrashyfanfic]

Non-despair AU! And ever since I watched that thirty minute anime clip with Nagito’s perspective on things, I’ve really liked the idea of him being buds with Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko. And Nagito openly talks about his past trauma on a plane so… what better way to bond than bonding over trauma? Anyway, I love these three so much. Also Komahina because I love them - Circle

(Also forgot to add this, sorry, but it’s on AO3 too) https://archiveofourown.org/works/33483538

Warning: descriptions of panic attacks, nausea, motion sickness, very mild vomiting (like barely any).

Fuyuhiko always thought Nagito was spouting a whole load of bullshit when he lamented about his talent being useless; he would’ve loved having Ultimate Luck right now.

“Haha! You got the short straw, Fuyuhiko!” Akane crowed. “Tough luck!”

“Wait, no! Can’t we do a best of three?”

“Somebody has to sit with them, man,” Nekomaru said. “You guys are already friends, it’ll be a great bonding experience.”

“I don’t want to bond with them in that situation. Because you all know it’ll be a shit show. That’s why we’re fucking doing this,” Fuyuhiko growled, glaring at each of his classmates in turn. Only two were missing, the pair who’d triggered this whole unfortunate drawing of straws in the first place.

“Why can’t you sit with them, Hajime? Nagito is always hanging off you anyway. And Kazuichi is your friend too,” Fuyuhiko said.

“I’m afraid I can’t, Fuyuhiko.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Because I didn’t draw the short straw.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Fuyuhiko stomped away, his classmates’ laughter echoing behind him. This class trip was already more trouble than it was worth and it hadn’t even started. He was almost tempted to skip the plane journey with the rest of them and hop on a different flight to Novoselic, just to show them. It wasn’t like he needed Sonia to pay his way. But she’d been so enthusiastic about taking her friends to see her home country, and Fuyuhiko couldn’t think of any way to tell her without causing offence. He couldn’t really say he just didn’t want to be stuck babysitting Kazuichi and Nagito on a flight.

It wasn’t that Fuyuhiko didn’t like Kazuichi and Nagito. Sure, Kazuichi could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, and Nagito would go all weird and self-deprecating if you didn’t watch out, but Fuyuhiko still considered them close friends. But the flight to Novoselic was long. Kazuichi could get motion sickness on a fucking bicycle, and Nagito hadn’t set foot on a plane since his parents died on one right in front of his eyes. There was no way it could possibly go well. Fuyuhiko pictured hour after hour of Kazuichi puking and complaining and Nagito… well, he wasn’t sure what the hell Nagito would do. He’d never seen Nagito get flustered before. Hell, that was much more terrifying. He had to get out of this.

In the days before the trip, Fuyuhiko kept trying to convince his kinder classmates to take responsibility for at least one of the other men. “It’s gonna be impossible to help them both,” Fuyuhiko said. “It’ll be better for them if you help me.”

“You could sit between them,” Mahiru said. “And I’ve already promised Hiyoko I’ll sit with her. Sorry.”

Asking Twogami was a no-go too. “It’ll be more considerate to the other passengers if they’re both in one area,” he said. “To limit the disturbance if they become distressed.”

“I’m the one who’ll be feeling fucking distressed,” Fuyuhiko snapped.

Peko overheard, and came over at once. “I’ll take your burden, young master.”

“No, not you!” Fuyuhiko hated the whine in his tone - and he hated the smirk on Twogami’s face too. “You don’t have to do it. You sit with Gundham and pet his hamsters or something. I… I want you to be happy,” he mumbled, blushing fiercely.

Damn it. He could be as bad as Kazuichi sometimes.

There was no way to wriggle out of it. The morning of the trip dawned bright and sunny, and Fuyuhiko’s ticket set him directly between Kazuichi and Nagito. Fantastic.

At least check-in and security went by reasonably peacefully, the walk to their gate quiet. Only Akane and Nekomaru seemed to be properly awake this early in the day, and they stuck with each other. Fuyuhiko glanced at his two friends. Kazuichi still seemed half-asleep, curled on one of the uncomfortable chairs by the gate, watching the planes take off and land in the distance through the huge windows. Nagito was much more concerning. He was smiling brightly… but he didn’t look happy at all.

“Hey, Fuyuhiko, want to know how a plane engine works?” Kazuichi asked.

“No,” he said, but he sat down with a sigh as Kazuichi started talking anyway. He tuned out after a second, though Nagito looked like he was listening.

“Seeing you talk about your ultimate talent is so inspiring, Kazuichi,” Nagito said - and smiled. That weird smile again, desperate and strained.

“It’s nothing. I just think planes are interesting. From an engineering point of view. I really wish I didn’t have to fucking ride one,” Kazuichi groaned.

“Aha, I can’t help feeling apprehensive too. The last time I was on a flight, both my parents died.” Nagito spoke emotionlessly, as if reciting a shopping list, but that smile was still fixed on his face. “But it’s okay. That bad luck brought me a lot of good luck later on. You just have to have hope that things will work out.”

Kazuichi stared at him, mouth open. “Um. Okay. Sorry.” He caught Fuyuhiko’s eye and mouthed what the fuck? Fuyuhiko wasn’t sure if Kazuichi was just now hearing the story or if he was confused by Nagito’s weird behaviour. He shrugged helplessly.

There wasn’t much conversation after that. You couldn’t really carry on your casual chit-chat right after somebody brought up their dead parents. Fuyuhiko kept an eye on Nagito. He was bolt upright in his seat, his eyes staring straight ahead, hands clasped so tight in his lap his knuckles bleached white. With his pale hair and ashen face, he looked like all the blood had drained out of him completely.

Their flight number was called far too soon, and Fuyuhiko dragged his motley crew to the right aisle, pondering where to put everyone. Kazuichi should probably be on the end if he’d be passing vomit bags to some poor stewardess. Fuyuhiko needed to be in the middle, so that left Nagito by the window. He’d have to keep the shutter pulled down.

Hajime passed them on the way to his own seat, and stopped short when he saw Nagito’s face. He leaned right over Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko, ignoring their complaints and curses, and took Nagito’s hand. “Are you alright? You look… off.”

“Don’t worry about me, Hajime.”

“Your hands are clammy.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. How disgusting for you,” Nagito said, smiling. Always smiling.

“That’s not what I meant… Look, do you want to sit with me?”

“Can we move it along please?” somebody called irritably down the aisle.

“You’re holding up the line, Hajime. Don’t worry about me,” Nagito repeated. Hajime looked like he was worrying dreadfully, but he was forced to move along. Nagito clasped his hands again and fixed his gaze on the seat in front, smiling smiling smiling. It was freaking Fuyuhiko out. He looked like he was wearing a mask and his eyes were the only real part of him, swirling with turmoil.

“Hey.” Kazuichi nudged Fuyuhiko’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Are Hajime and Nagito… you know. A thing?”

“Mate, you told me you’ve seen them leave Hajime’s cabin together in the mornings.”

“They could just be having a sleepover. As bros.”

“I don’t think it’s that, Kazuichi.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause I don’t want Hajime to get a new best friend,” Kazuichi said.

Fuyuhiko sighed. “I think you’re safe.”

There was a pause. Then another shoulder nudge a second later. “So Hajime and Nagito? Seriously? Am I the only person on my own in this class?” Kazuichi muttered.

Fuyuhiko was spared from responding by the flight attendants starting the safety briefing, demonstrating how to use the oxygen masks and the life jackets in case of emergency. He had to admit, it was pretty eerie to think that you could, however unlikely it may be, crash into the ocean or need extra oxygen to live long enough to get to land. He glanced over at Nagito nervously. His arms were now curled across his chest, hands gripping his elbows. His head was bent, a cloud of puffy hair hiding his face. Maybe that was for the best.

“Can you try not to puke as long as possible?” Fuyuhiko whispered to Kazuichi. “I feel like I might have a situation to deal with.”

“I’m never trying to puke,” Kazuichi said, but he seemed worried too, glancing past Fuyuhiko. “Hey, Nagito, you doing alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, Kazuichi,” Nagito said, eerily calmly.

“That’s not the same thing as saying you’re fine, is it?” Kazuichi whispered to Fuyuhiko.

“He’s clearly not fucking fine,” Fuyuhiko snapped.

“Should I ask Hajime to swap?” Kazuichi asked.

Fuyuhiko nodded, but before Kazuichi could even undo his seatbelt, the plane jerked and started reversing out of the gate. Fuyuhiko heard Nagito draw in his breath sharply - then he was the one fumbling for his seatbelt, standing unsteadily.

“What the fuck are you doing, man?” Fuyuhiko yelled, catching onto the back of Nagito’s coat as he tried to clamber over the seats. “Sit down!”

“I’m afraid I need to get off,” Nagito said, voice still calm despite his frantic movements.

“It’s already moving, for God’s sake! Sit down before a flight attendant sees you!” It wasn’t hard to force Nagito back into his seat - he seemed light enough for a strong gust of wind to knock him over - and Souda hastily got the belt fastened again just as the plane rolled onto the runway.

“Okay. It’s fine. You’re fine,” Fuyuhiko gabbled, trying hard not to shout or swear or scream at all his classmates for making him deal with this. “Just sit still and… I dunno, plug your ears. The takeoff part is the worst.”

There was a cacophony of whirring as the engines roared to life and Fuyuhiko would be very grateful for all that noise in a second, because Nagito started to laugh. Dry, hysterical laughter, his eyes over-bright and manic, lips bared in that grisly parody of a smile.

“Has he lost his fucking mind?” Kazuichi asked, sounding genuinely frightened.

“You must really hate me, Fuyuhiko,” Nagito gasped. “To restrain me here… You must despise me.”

“I’m not restraining you!”

“Then let me off.” He locked eyes with Fuyuhiko and for a second the manic grin faded. “Please…”

The engines roared to a crescendo and the plane shot forward so quickly everyone was pinned to their seats with the force, zooming on and on until they could feel the entire structure lurch into the air. Kazuichi groaned softly, shutting his eyes, but Fuyuhiko was far more focused on Nagito. He had his eyes squeezed shut too, but his hand clamped hard onto Fuyuhiko’s arm. Really fucking hard. Shit, maybe Nagito wasn’t as weak as he looked. Fuyuhiko cursed as his terrified companion started digging his nails into his skin, actually drawing blood. The pain prompted Fuyuhiko to try prying the hand loose a little, but Nagito clamped on harder, carving several new scratches. Fuyuhiko didn’t dare attempt again; he’d get his arm cut to ribbons.

When the plane was flying high and the swirling, disoriented feeling had eased, Fuyuhiko checked on both men. Kazuichi had his head in his hands, but he gave a shaky thumbs up when Fuyuhiko prodded him.

“‘M okay,” he mumbled. “Got through takeoff. Gets better when it’s levelling out.”

“Right, good. Try to stay that way, yeah? I’ve got a lot to handle right now,” Fuyuhiko sighed. Nagito was still shredding his arm up, but he could feel one finger tapping for attention.

“What? What do you need? Please, no bullshit, Nagito. I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do,” Fuyuhiko said. He was practically yelling in his panic, and the people across the aisle turned to glare.

It was several seconds before Nagito could gather enough breath to speak. Fuyuhiko saw that awful smile stretch across his face again, like somebody had twisted his frown the wrong way round. “Aha, I’m sorry to trouble you, Fuyuhiko, but I think I might be having a panic attack.”

“What?” Fuyuhiko felt like he was going to have a panic attack too. “Why? What’s going on?”

“I can’t seem to catch my breath. And the cabin has been spinning for several minutes.”

“Jesus Christ! Why didn’t you say anything?” Fuyuhiko hurriedly pushed Nagito’s head down as far as it would go before it bumped the seat in front. “Fucking… think of things you can see or something? Shit, I don’t remember.”

“Five things you can see,” Kazuichi chimed in. “Is he really gonna pass out? Hajime is gonna kill us.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him for leaving this shit to us! How stupid can you get?”

“Ahh, I’m such a nuisance. If I’d known I’d react in such a shameful way, I’d have been sure to take a seat away from all the Ultimates. Why are you taking care of someone like me?”

“Nagito, shut up, this isn’t your fault,” Fuyuhiko said shortly. “Stop babbling on about ultimates and do the panic attack thing. Listen to Kazuichi, he knows how to do it.”

Nagito did as he was told, working through the grounding techniques with Kazuichi while Fuyuhiko held onto his shoulders feeling helpless. Nagito was shaking so hard it was difficult not to drop him altogether. He didn’t pass out, but even after the grounding Nagito looked far from what you’d consider calm. He was grey-white when Fuyuhiko carefully hauled him back upright.

“Are you okay..?”

The smile came back, though it seemed a lot more tired than manic this time. “Ah… I don’t think so, Fuyuhiko.”

“Well. At least you’re honest. Can you tell me how you’re feeling? Physically, I mean. Clearly I see you’re fucked mentally. And please stop smiling like that, you’re creeping me out,” Fuyuhiko said.

Nagito finally released his grip on Fuyuhiko’s arm, his nails coated with blood. He bent forward slowly, carefully, like he was terrified any sudden movements would send him spiralling again, and let his elbows rest on his knees. “I still feel slightly lightheaded. And nauseous. I’d still like to get off.”

Fuyuhiko examined the long scratches on his arm, sighing and mopping the blood with his sleeve. “Well, you’d have a long drop if you tried to get off now. You should cut your damn fingernails too. I’m going to get Hajime.” He turned to Kazuichi. “Watch him for a minute, okay? I don’t fucking care about drawing the short straw anymore, I can’t handle this.” Fuyuhiko scrambled over Kazuichi’s lap into the aisle, ignoring the flight attendant yelling for him to remain in his seat until the seatbelt signs went off.

“Hey! What did you mean drawing the short straw?” Kazuichi called behind him. Fuyuhiko didn’t look back.

“Hajime!” Fuyuhiko yelled when he was still more than six aisles away from the startled man. “You’re swapping with me!” He lowered his voice when he reached Hajime’s seat, but only marginally. “I can’t handle this. I don’t know how you expected Komeada to react to this shit, but whatever you thought, it’s worse. Way fucking worse. And I can’t help him. So go fucking do it yourself.”

“Well, I was going to swap as soon as the seatbelt signs were off,” Hajime said pointedly.

“I don’t give a shit. Look at my arm! Your fucking boyfriend nearly ripped it off at the elbow.” Fuyuhiko brandished his scratched, bloodied arm, and Hajime looked genuinely shocked.

“Oh my God…” He stood up hastily, clinging to the seats in front as the plane was still slightly off-balance. “I’m sorry, Fuyuhiko. I didn’t expect him to panic so much. He never said anything much about it when I asked.”

“Yeah, well, no offence, Hajime, but you can be as thick as three short planks sometimes. So if he implied anything, I don’t doubt you missed it,” Fuyuhiko snapped, taking Hajime’s empty seat - next to Chiaki, thank goodness. She hadn’t even looked up from her Switch this whole time. Perfect.

“I have taken some offence…” Hajime mumbled, then turned to go back down the aisle, trying hard not to catch the eyes of the other passengers staring like they were all part of a circus act. He was pretty sure the whole class was going to get banned from this airline. Gundham had been in trouble already for taking his hamsters out of their little travelling cage - several times. He was insulted by the insistence of the staff that all pets had to be contained, both by their labelling of his hamsters as mere pets and from their implication that his dark devas could ever be contained.

Hajime followed the sounds of more disgruntled passengers to Nagito’s seat. He was in the middle now, hunched over one of those white sick bags, while Kazuichi awkwardly patted his back. He looked relieved to see Hajime, beckoning frantically. “Come help me! I think he’s gonna spew. Weird that it’s not me for once.”

Hajime sighed, struggling to shuffle past his friends to get to Nagito’s other side, squashed by the window. Nagito didn’t acknowledge him. Hajime could see he had his eyes closed, his face strangely calm and smooth, though his breathing was erratic.

“Hey, Nagito? You hearing me?” Hajime called, tapping the other man’s pale cheek.

“Did I drive Fuyuhiko away?” Nagito said, voice strained. “I’m not surprised. To bother the Ultimates with the problems of an insignificant nobody like me.”

“Dude, shut up,” Kazuichi groaned. “Nobody thinks that. Stop being so weird. Fuyuhiko just doesn’t know how to look after people.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit up? I doubt you’ll throw up, you wouldn’t eat anything this morning,” Hajime said.

At that exact moment, almost as if to pointedly prove him wrong, Nagito made a choked retching sound and ducked his head down further, cringing.

“Oookay. Or not. Um. You’re okay,” Hajime muttered, placing a wary hand on Nagito’s hair to keep it out of the way. It was strange hair; soft yet thick at the same time, and it poofed up determinedly no matter how many times Ibuki tried him out with different hairstyles.

The seatbelt signs were now off, so Kazuichi stood up hastily, trying to shield Nagito from the people hurrying up the aisle to the bathrooms. Hajime was grateful, but part of him wished he could switch places with Souda. He didn’t think he’d be having to coach Nagito through something so strangely intimate so soon into their… relationship? They’d never come out and actually said they were boyfriends, not even to each other, but their classmates seemed to think they were a couple.

As Nagito really hadn’t eaten much of anything all day, the actual vomiting didn’t last too long, but the dry heaving continued for several agonising minutes, and the nausea remained indefinitely. But Nagito felt safe to lift him head, his pale cheeks dusted with pink. He smiled shakily at Hajime. “How embarrassing. I caused a scene in front of all these people. You must be lamenting the day you set eyes on me.”

“Stop,” Hajime sighed, taking the soiled bag and handing it to Kazuichi.

“Hajime!” Souda squealed, hastily handing it off to a flight attendant, who offered a bottle of water for Nagito in response. Her smile didn’t slip once. Hajime was impressed by her poker face.

“Drink,” Hajime prompted, forcing the bottle into Nagito’s hands. “I want you to try eating something later too. You’re going to pass out.”

Kazuichi sat down again, glancing at Nagito. “You feeling… okay now? Like as okay as you can?”

Nagito took a long drink of water, eyes blank. Then he smiled again, that strange, forced smile. “I really am pathetic, aren’t I? Causing such a dramatic spectacle over something that happened years ago. I don’t deserve such attention from the Ultim-“

“Stop!” Hajime took Nagito’s face in his hands, forcing him to meet his eyes. Hajime thought he saw something flicker in them, some semblance of an honest emotion. “Nagito, can you please stop trying to act like you don’t have feelings. I know you’re scared. And you know what? It’s okay. It’s completely fucking normal to feel like this right now. I shouldn’t have left you. That was me being dense, and I’m sorry. But you can stop pretending. It’s just me here - and Kazuichi, but he’ll understand too. He’s scared of everything.”

“I am not!” Kazuichi cried, outraged.

Hajime didn’t break eye contact with Nagito, both breathing heavily. Nagito glared back at first, his face twisting into a scowl, but Hajime didn’t falter.

“Let me in,” Hajime muttered. “I know you, for God’s sake. You’re not gonna scare me off. It’s okay to need help. Please.”

Another silence for several long, tense seconds. Then - finally, amazingly - Nagito made a soft frustrated noise, lunged forwards and wound his arms around Hajime’s neck so tightly that for a second Hajime thought he’d messed up so badly Nagito was trying to throttle him.

“Hey, careful,” Hajime said, but his voice was gentle and he didn’t try to pry Nagito off. Nagito let his forehead rest on Hajime’s shoulder, his hair falling to shield his face completely. Hajime snaked his own arms awkwardly around Nagito’s slender waist. He could feel Nagito shaking, feel the warm puff of his breathing against his shoulder. The shaking never eased, but as time passed the breathing seemed to calm slightly.

Nagito didn’t speak as he clung to Hajime for dear life. Not a single word. But Hajime hadn’t really expected him to. This was already a degree of vulnerability that Nagito was completely unaccustomed to showing anyone, let alone his almost-boyfriend, his classmates and an entire plane full of strangers. It was a good place to start.

Kazuichi watched them slightly bitterly. “It’s alright for some. I wouldn’t mind someone to cuddle up to,” he muttered.

“That’s your other talent. Ultimate Third Wheel,” Hajime quipped.

Their row of seats was reasonably peaceful after that, though Hajime could hear the laughter and yelling from their classmates further back. He hoped the sensible members of the group could stop them causing too much trouble. Hajime couldn’t go tell them to knock it off himself; whenever he moved at all Nagito would tighten his grip.

He sat there, hour after hour, until he had to pry Nagito off him for a bathroom break. It wasn’t easy. Nagito fought him and clung on as much as he could, though Hajime explained he’d be back in five minutes.

“Look, cling onto Kazuichi while I go pee,” Hajime suggested. Kazuichi didn’t look overly enthusiastic about that idea, but he didn’t protest.

Nagito sighed. He slowly drew back his arms, and whispered three breathy little words into Hajime’s shirt before he went, perhaps the most raw, vulnerable words Hajime had ever heard Nagito say: “Please come back.”

“I will. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured.

Nagito shifted shakily in his seat, turned to Kazuichi and lunged at him too, wrapping his arms around his neck. Kazuichi squealed and whined that he was being strangled, but he didn’t shove Nagito away. Hajime almost felt like they were new parents, passing their newborn between them: “I’ll hold him for a bit, you go to the loo.”

There was a queue for the tiny airplane bathrooms. Hajime stood impatiently, wriggling his cramped shoulders and rocking back on his heels; he was glad Nagito seemed to be trusting him more, but he was pretty stiff after sitting in the same position for hours.

Two women ahead of Hajime in the queue seemed to be having an animated discussion about something, and when Hajime caught the word “school” he started to listen properly.

“I don’t know what sort of school they come from, but they’re a strange bunch,” one lady hissed. “There’s an odd boy in the row ahead of me, one of that lot, who has a collections of rodents, all free from their cage! Running all over the seat trays! Well, that’s not very hygienic, is it? But when I told him as much, he gave me the most incredibly rude answer.”

“Young people have such foul mouths these days,” the other lady agreed.

“No, he wasn’t swearing. It was ever so strange, almost as if he was… well, you’ll think I sound silly. But it was like he was cursing me.”

It was a good job for Hajime that the toilet became available and the lady rushed inside, because he was biting his cheeks to contain his laughter. When he’d used the loo himself and gone back to release Kazuichi from Nagito’s vice grip, he recited the story for both of them.

Kazuichi laughed, poking Nagito gently. “There you are, Nagito. No need to worry. No matter how weird we are, we can always count on Gundham to be weirder.”

Nagito didn’t respond, but Hajime saw a hint of a smile - a real smile - on his lips before he buried his face in Hajime’s neck again.

[kounkibou]

HC: Thoughts on Classmates

This is going to be an extensive post about what Nagito thinks of the rest of the SDR2 cast, so strap yourselves in. We’re going to start with in general, meaning everyone as a whole. All of these are going to start similarly because really Nagito thinks highly of everyone for their talents.

Note: I’m going to generalize on Hajime because Nagito’s thoughts on him could be its own post.

The Whole Class

It’s not a secret that Nagito feels like he doesn’t belong in the same place as them. They all have these amazing talents, and he doesn’t have anything but his luck. (Which we all know he doesn’t think is an actual talent or anything good.) Compared to a mechanic or a musician, it’s totally lame.

When Nagito calls himself a “fanatic”, it’s fairly true. He’s a fanboy of people with Ultimate Talents. It makes it hard for him to actually form relationships with his classmates because no matter what, he won’t see himself as their equal. That plus his lack of social skills and his tendency to push people away in order to protect them from his luck almost guarantees that he won’t make any lasting connections.

He also takes it upon himself to be sure that everyone respects women. If there’s someone who’s harassing any of the girls, he’ll be more assertive in getting them to stop. It’s one of those situations where he isn’t afraid to get more serious. For example, if he catches Teruteru trying to be weird with any of the girls, he’ll step in to stop him. He may or may not also be prepared to smack him with something if necessary.

Post-Awakening, Nagito doesn’t want anything to do with them because Remnants of Despair. He feels disgusted with them just like he does himself. After awhile, though, he sees how dedicated they are to being better people and that feeling of “They’re better than me” comes back full force. The full Post-Awakening post will elaborate on that. (Someone remind me to link that here once I do it.)

Akane

There’s not a lot of interaction between these two. Even so, Nagito still respects Akane’s talent even if he isn’t sure how to talk to her. He wouldn’t insult her by saying she was stupid, but he wouldn’t say she’s the most intelligent either. If she asked, he’d definitely explain something she didn’t know because he doesn’t want to be useless to her. He also doesn’t want her to fall behind or be confused because she deserves to know more.

That said, Nagito doesn’t want to presume Akane needs extra help. She’s an Ultimate after all. How could someone lowly like him help an Ultimate with anything?

The only real canon interactions between them are Akane showing a lot of aggression, especially post Final Dead Room shenanigans because frankly, Nagito is an asshole. (Anyone who doesn’t want to wring his neck at that point is a saint.)

On Nagito’s end, though, even if there isn’t a lot there, it’s clear he holds respect for her because of her talent.

They really don’t know each other all that well in a non-despair setting. They don’t have any reason to interact other than as classmates. Nagito doesn’t have an interest in the same things she does, so he wouldn’t go out of his way to talk to her.

Nekomaru

With Nekomaru, Nagito feels a bit more at ease. His aura is more welcoming than most people since he’s a Team Manager. It’s like Nekomaru wants to get along with people, and Nagito can respect that. He just isn’t good at it himself. He feels more willing to participate with someone encouraging it, but he’ll make it known he’ll probably mess it up because of his luck. I imagine talk like that makes Nekomaru get all encouraging, and then Nagito fanboys a little bit because he’s getting a pep-talk from an ultimate.

Nagito isn’t even mad when Nekomaru and Kazuichi tie him up because yeah he deserves it. Most of the time when people treat him cautiously, he agrees that it’s probably for the best. In fact, he doesn’t even hold it against them. I imagine in addition to his own apprehension, Nekomaru worked with Kazuichi because it was best for everyone if Nagito wasn’t allowed to wander around by himself because at that point, he’d proven he wasn’t working in the best interest of the group. Nagito would understand that take on it and think it was necessary even if he was uncomfortable.

In the anthology, they actually bond over their experiences of being in the hospital previously. In a non-despair setting, they could get along fairly well if they got to talking. Nekomaru is pretty forthcoming with his past, so they would end up talking about it eventually. I feel like they could be pretty good friends.

Fuyuhiko

Being the Ultimate Yakuza, Fuyuhiko gets a lot more respect than some of the others because, to Nagito, his talent demands it. If he doesn’t respect him, he could end up six feet under! 

Since at first, Fuyuhiko is standoffish to everyone, Nagito respects that he wants to keep everyone away from him. He’ll inquire about him occasionally, but he won’t pester him if he doesn’t have to. Part of him doesn’t like that Fuyuhiko won’t work with everyone else. He just doesn’t feel he has any authority to tell him what he can and can’t do.

When Fuyuhiko starts to open up after Peko’s execution, Nagito still gives him a healthy distance, especially because he himself is garbage and shouldn’t be trusted. He’s really happy, though, that he got better! Watching Fuyuhiko work together with everyone fills his heart with hope!

Another important note: Nagito trusts Fuyuhiko to investigate the clocks in both parts of the Funhouse right before he heads to the Final Dead Room. I’ll let that speak for itself.

Funnily enough, Nagito wants to get along closely with Fuyuhiko. He thinks he’s a cool guy. He knows he doesn’t deserve any friendship from someone with an ultimate talent, but deep inside, he wants to be his friend. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get there, especially not with the way he behaves and with his luck. It’s just something he’d want if he was ever in the right place at the right time. He also doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Fuyuhiko, so he doesn’t try either.

Peko

Nagito respects Peko, especially since most people view swordsmanship as a primarily masculine skill. He finds her abilities both scary and fascinating! He wouldn’t want to mess with her. The amount of discipline she has is something he wishes he could have a fraction of.

Basically, he thinks she’s cool.

Like with most of the girls, Nagito does his best to make sure no one harasses Peko. Even when it comes to non-sexual things, he feels like he owes it to her to help her keep her dignity. (Hence why he tried to be delicate about how her stomach was upset in Chapter 1.) The reason for this isn’t anything spectacular. He just feels like because of how things are with her talent, people might not respect her if they saw something undignified. Nagito feels like this is the best way he can help her even if she probably doesn’t need it.

When Peko kills Mahiru, Nagito isn’t at all surprised once he makes the connection between Peko and Fuyuhiko. He does express that he wishes he could have helped her, but he understands that she wouldn’t have wanted help. Peko has a certain amount of pride, and asking for help from a lowly insect like him would wound it. (According to his thought process anyway.)

He actually misses her quite a bit once she’s gone, and he can see even from afar how it’s affected Fuyuhiko. Their bond is something he’s a bit jealous of, wishing he could have someone that important in his life. He also feels glad that Peko’s hope involved something as beautiful as love.

Non-despair-wise, if Nagito befriended Fuyuhiko, he’d likely be on fairly good terms with Peko, too. They might not be friends, but they could hold a conversation so long as Nagito didn’t get too weird about his hope craze.

Mahiru

Nagito thinks Mahiru’s talent is underrated. Most people would say “Anyone can take a picture and have it look decent.” (Filed under: things I’ve heard people say.) He also has an admiration for what she takes pictures of. Her portfolio consists of people and lots of smiles. To him, that screams spreading hope, and he loves it.

Mahiru doesn’t sugarcoat what she thinks, especially not of behavior she thinks is bad. Nagito accepts being told he’s not good at things, and he takes it to heart coming from someone with an Ultimate Talent. 

She has a certain kindness about her in spite of how much she goes in on the guys. That’s something Nagito doesn’t understand, but he would never tell her not to. (It’s not his place to say something like that.) That’s why he’s genuinely upset when she’s murdered. She came to check on him, someone the rest of the group had deemed dangerous enough to isolate from everyone. Mahiru thought to feed him when no one else had, and though she made Hajime do it, it wasn’t like she was just pushing it off on someone else. She actually had other plans.

When Nagito said she wouldn’t be influenced by him, he probably believed that. He likely thought it would get things moving if he mentioned the game, but it was a shot in the dark really. After what he did in the first trial, who would listen to him?

In a not-despair setting, they could probably get along as classmates. I don’t know if they’d get close, but they could have a healthy amount of respect for one another. They could be friends. (I also like to imagine Mahiru seeking an elusive, real Nagito smile as a challenge!)

Hiyoko

Despite liking her talent, Nagito doesn’t know how to feel about Hiyoko. He can respect her talent, but he doesn’t like the way she acts. I think, out of all of his classmates, she’s a competitor for the one he likes least. That’s not to say he openly shows any disdain for her or anything. He just doesn’t mesh well with her at all. Other than Hiyoko yelling at him for getting her shoe size, I can’t really think of many other interactions between them. I attribute this to him not wanting to deal with her attitude. Even Nagito has...maybe not standards, but a standard of treatment he doesn’t want toward himself. Hiyoko oversteps that boundary, and that’s saying something.

After Mahiru’s death, Nagito feels sorry for Hiyoko. He doesn’t say much to her about it, mostly because getting a word in edgewise with her is impossible and he can’t talk to someone with her talent like that. Instead, he doesn’t try to do anything about it and lets everyone else sort that out. He does find the conflict between her and Fuyuhiko interesting, though. A sort of clash of hopes...

Losing any of his classmates in the Neo World upsets him, but part of him feels like she brought it on herself, especially since he knows who did it. Mikan, full of despair, snuffed out the remaining hope in Hiyoko as revenge for crushing her hopes by bullying her. (Not sound logic by any means, but it follows Nagito’s philosophy.)

I don’t see them getting along in any capacity. Hiyoko goes straight for the gut with the way she insults people, and I can see her saying something that might actually upset Nagito. (That’s saying something considering the things he calls himself.) If they could somehow break through that, I’d imagine maybe they could have a conversation about traditional stuff. Nagito finds it fascinating.

Ibuki

Ibuki’s talent is one that Nagito doesn’t know too much about. He didn’t learn how to plan an instrument or anything as a kid like a lot of rich kids seem to do. He might not be ecstatic about Ibuki’s style, but it’s closer to what he likes than pop music. (His taste is “emo kid music” for lack of a better explanation.) Her enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily rub off on him, but he does feel a bit lighter around her. She can certainly liven up a room!

They don’t have a lot of interactions either. I feel like since she does have some other interesting skills, Nagito finds her even more amazing. She pulls through for them a few times. Her hearing might have gotten him into trouble in the first trial, but he isn’t bothered by it because it’s so cool that she recognized what he said and that everyone was able to figure something out from it!

After her death, things are fairly gloomy. The whole starving-in-the-funhouse thing doesn’t make it any better. You could make a case that things get much more serious from that point on. I feel like Nagito would notice that, too, before he totally turns his back on everyone. That might be one of many reasons he was so intent on clearing the Final Dead Room to help everyone. Any little thing he could do to increase morale...

Outside of despair, I don’t know what kind of relationship they could have. Ibuki is so excitable and Nagito is so down on himself that it would be an interesting dynamic. Maybe she could pull what she did with Hajime on him and try to get him to mellow out for a little bit. Ibuki is outgoing enough that she might try to befriend him. Who knows?

Mikan

Mikan is an interesting case. Her talent is something Nagito kind of knows a lot about secondhand due to his assorted health problems, so he had a more personalized respect for her. Nagito feels a bit protective of her because of how anxious she is all the time. He also gets quite alarmed when she falls in those unintentionally erotic positions. If he felt like it was his place to do something, he would help her. (Of course, his lack of any self worth makes him feel like he shouldn’t even touch someone with a talent without a good reason.) She’s a handful, but he doesn’t dislike her for it. He feels for her.

While Mikan is overcome with despair, Nagito feels extremely uncomfortable around her. As soon as he’s better, he has his suspicions about her. The look in her eyes was one that made his hopeful heart sink. The fact that they stand next to each other on the trial ground makes this even more distressing. The whole time he knows that there’s despair in her, but if he comes right out and says it, who’s going to believe him? If they’re all on the same page, there’s more of a chance of everyone choosing the path that “leads to the most hope”.

That’s why he really goes in on her after she starts freaking out. He doesn’t want to be near her or associate with her anymore. When she drops that bombshell about him not having anyone who loves him, it breaks him inside. That’s his big insecurity, one thing that he wants more than anything, and she went for it.

Non-despair-wise, they could get along. They actually have a lot of similarities I’ve noticed roleplaying them both and discussing them with another friend who plays Mikan. They want so desperately to be loved and have unconventional ways of showing it to the point of being obsessive. Neither of them have high self-esteem, and they both have quite a bit of trauma, though they’re very different traumas. Maybe they wouldn’t bond over that since neither like to talk about it, but other things? I feel like they could.

Sonia

By virtue of her being a princess, Nagito absolutely gives Sonia the most respect he can. He refers to her as “Miss Sonia” as well, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. If he’s lesser than most Ultimates, he surely thinks he means nothing compared to Sonia.

In a strictly platonic and distant way, Nagito is a bit protective of Sonia. She can be a bit naïve about things, and based on some of her interactions with other classmates, he worries that they might try to take advantage of her. He’d never say it aloud, but he wonders how she doesn’t understand some things. He understands it could be the language barrier. There seems to be...more evidence that she just doesn’t know.

Funnily enough, I imagine they could get along fairly well. Nagito has experience with higher class society, so he could understand some of Sonia’s woes. She’s also interested in some of the things he is, like unrealistic slasher films for instance. If nothing else, they could have an interesting conversation comparing their experiences. She seems to have more tolerance for him than some of the others.

This would be a lot easier without all of the despair crap to make him act like that. Nagito would still be kind of weird, but at least he’d be more tolerable.

Gundham

Straight up, Nagito thinks Gundham is pretty strange. (Ironic coming from him.) Of course, he admires his talent and finds it intriguing. He’d like to know more, but the biggest thing that keeps him from it is the way Gundham speaks. It isn’t that he can’t interpret his words. It’s just harder for him. It’s hard for Nagito to have good conversations with people in general because of his variant of dementia. Imagine how much harder it is when the person he’s talking to speaks with a lot of flourish. It just takes a bit longer.

Even though it happens after his realization about Ultimate Despair, Nagito has to admit Gundham has courage. All of his respect went down the drain at that point, and though he insults him at the beginning of the next chapter, he does respect that he tried to save everyone. At that point in time, he believes it bad only because they were Remnants of Despair. Otherwise, it’s an admirable sacrifice.

(Admittedly, I have a soft spot for the two of them mostly because Gundham also had the balls to play Russian Roulette.)

I think any interactions between them would be interesting. Nagito trying to decipher Gundham-speak, and Gundham being both glad and also weirded out that Nagito is respecting him like an actual overlord of ice. In any setting, they would have to build up to being friendly with one another. (Or the Gundham equivalent of friendly.) Despite Nagito’s luck with animals, he likes them and doesn’t mind talking about them or interacting with them. In that sense, they would have something to talk about.

Kazuichi

This one is a lot. Nagito has tons of respect for him, and he makes it known during Kazuichi’s introduction. He thinks his talent is cool and useful. Kazuichi isn’t always the brightest, but Nagito wouldn’t insult him for it or anything for by now obvious reasons. He values his opinion and input as much as anyone else’s. Nagito doesn’t know a lot about mechanical things, so he would get a kick out of watching Kazuichi. 

He’s extremely respectful toward him even when met with animosity. When Kazuichi and Nekomaru knock him out and tie him up, Nagito doesn’t blame either of them for it. In fact, he thanks Kazuichi for “going easy on him”. In Chapter 4, he readily gives Kazuichi the multitool in order to help him fix the elevator. He also trusts Kazuichi to check the compass in the elevator for him when he isn’t sure he’ll be able to do it himself later. (You know, potentially dying in the Final Dead Room and all.)

If he was going to be honest, Nagito would have to say Kazuichi isn’t very bright, but that doesn’t mean he likes him any less. Sometimes, he wishes he wouldn’t muddy things with his not-so-smart suggestions during trials, but he’d never say it. Nagito also isn’t sure it’s productive of Kazuichi to keep accusing him of things, though he thinks he deserves it.

Kazuichi is another person Nagito would want to be friends with. He thinks Kazuichi is cool, too, just like Fuyuhiko. In a non-despair setting, if Kazuichi could get over how weird Nagito is, they could get along well enough. I don’t know if friendship is in the cards, but it would take effort on both sides surely. Kazuichi would have to be willing to look beyond the mask Nagito wears, and Nagito would have to dial it back a bit and understand that he would have to take steps to develop a friendship instead of being passive.

The Ultimate Imposter

Things between these two are fairly complicated. Like everyone else in-game, Nagito is under the impression that he’s dealing with the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. It doesn’t really impact his outlook on them at all as both talents would be intriguing for him. However, because he doesn’t know until much later that they’re the Ultimate Imposter, we’re working with his outlook on “Byakuya”. 

Also, a lot of this is inferred from the Imposter’s actions, and some of it comes from the manga from Nagito’s POV.

Compared to the actual Byakuya, the Imposter has a nicer personality. When they take on the role of leader, Nagito thinks it’s amazing! When they declare they’re going to protect everyone, Nagito finds this noble and something unexpected of a person of high status. In his experience with higher class people, he’s met several who only care for themselves. Of course, Nagito also finds this easy to manipulate once he’s decided he’s going to set things in motion.

There’s a certain amount of guilt I think Nagito feels after they die. He had been expecting to die, and that was why it came as such a shock to him later to find out that yes, they had been protecting him. He thinks maybe, maybe this was an instance of his luck stepping in, so it’s another layer onto his luck hurting people. (The “anyone who cares about me dies” bit.) That’s why despite offering several times for people to kill him, he doesn’t go out of his way to do it until he tries to martyr himself. He’s making up for “kill them with his luck”.

In a normal verse, Nagito could get along with the Imposter. They seem like kind of an “older sibling” type who looks after the others. It would be hard to break through the walls that they’ve built around themselves, but there’s potential for something.

Teruteru

There’s a lot between these two as well. Their dynamic is silly. Nagito softly threatening Teruteru for trying to take advantage of girls? A+ material. He doesn’t dislike Teruteru at all, but he does have a level of tolerance for delinquent behavior that he doesn’t approve of. He immediately transitions to using “Ultimate Chef” when Teruteru insists on it. He shows him just as much respect as anyone else.

It’s important to note that Nagito had to have noticed a weak point in Teruteru to single him out as a potential killer. His insistence that their circumstances are just a dream/not real is evidence enough. Targeting Teruteru as his killer was as much planting a seed of urgency to his actions by letting it slip what he was doing and being completely honest about it. Even though he’s the first Blackened, Teruteru knew about Nagito’s true nature first. Nagito hoped that he would take action. If his luck wouldn’t let him die by any other means, maybe he could get himself killed by an Ultimate and be useful, be a stepping stone so his idols could advance.

Imagine if it had been Nagito. Things would’ve gone differently for sure. Maybe they wouldn’t have been able to figure out who the killer was. Maybe they still would have. It would’ve been the solution he wanted, and Teruteru would have made his “dreams come true” so to speak.

(Post-game, Nagito does eventually feel guilty about starting the Killing Game in the first place, but that takes a lot of personal growth and work...)

In a non-despair verse, their relationship would probably have stayed the same. Teruteru being a little sleazy. Nagito calling him out on it. Fun stuff like that. Maybe friendship is an option. It’s worth mentioning Teruteru did do a bit of flirting, though, which Nagito totally doesn’t notice or completely ignores depending on the situation. I’m mostly imagining an interesting friendship if anything.

Chiaki

Though it doesn’t seem like much of a talent to a lot of people, Nagito thinks Chiaki’s talent is incredible of course! Most of the time when he plays video games, he wins because of his luck, so seeing someone actually good at them is cool.

At first, he isn’t sure what to think of her as a person, thinking of her as potentially not reliable. He’s nice enough to her, but he’s exasperated by the fact that she dozes off so often. Nagito worries about that quite a bit. As things progress, he sees that she’s a lot more than she appears. When she puts her mind to it, she’s intelligent and can find things other people, including him, miss.

Chiaki sees the good in him despite his behavior, and Nagito doesn’t know how to feel about that. She gives him the benefit of the doubt. However, she does reprimand him for the bad things. Nagito doesn’t mind that part, but he can’t understand why she’s nice to him. It’s so confusing that someone is genuinely kind to him even when he’s trash.

It’s funny how Nagito tried so hard to help Chiaki unknowingly when Chiaki didn’t want that help. In the end, he was the reason she was executed, putting another death that was his fault on the list. (Of course, he won’t know that until post game.) Chiaki’s goal wasn’t to destroy the Remnants of Despair. Nagito just interpreted it that way for his own reasons. Their in-game fates were tied together, and...I find that cool.

Non-despair-wise, I’m 100% down for them being friends. Chiaki is a sweetheart, so she’d try to be Nagito’s friend even if he’s a little strange. He probably keeps her at a distance like he does literally everyone. He appreciates it, but he doesn’t want her to get hurt. People actually like her unlike him. I can see Chiaki offering friendship and checking in periodically to see if he’s okay. Nagito probably sits with her while she plays games so he won’t feel alone for a little while. Her company is...calming.

Hajime

Again, I’m gonna generalize here, but straight up, Hajime is Nagito’s favorite person. He thinks he’s amazing, attractive, and absolutely cool. From the first moment he saw Hajime, he felt the potential in him. Everything about him is exciting, and Nagito wants to be as close to him as possible. Genuinely, he wants to be his friend and form some kind of relationship with him even if it isn’t romantic. (He doesn’t deserve that, and it would absolutely make his luck want to kill Hajime.) Every bit of friendliness and kindness he showed Hajime in the beginning was genuine. He wanted to ease his worries and make him feel better.

After the Chapter 1 fiasco, Nagito is most upset that Hajime is upset with him. He didn’t expect him to be on board with his philosophy, but the hostility hurts. His heart aches because they were so close for such a short time that he had almost gotten used to having a friendly relationship. Then it was gone.

Nagito still tries his best to help Hajime and do things with him despite how Hajime really doesn’t want much to do with him. He constantly wants to be close to him. Nagito doesn’t mind sharing his past with Hajime because he keeps coming back to learn more. Maybe if he helps him to understand his point of view a bit better, he’ll want to be close. An interesting way to think about it, but that’s what Nagito wants.

In Chapter 4 when Nagito starts to give him the cold shoulder, it’s because he genuinely feels betrayed. He felt this connection with Hajime, but knowing all of them were Remnants of Despair, he can’t hold onto that. It’s hard to get rid of those feelings, so his only way to cope is to keep insulting him for being a Reserve Course Student. There’s a point where he wishes it could have been different, but he doesn’t dwell on it and carries on. He isn’t around in the Neo World long enough to think about it too much.

Without going into too much detail about it, post game Nagito doesn’t want anything to do with him or anyone else. It scares him. Izuru scares him especially. He just...doesn’t want to be near the others and doesn’t think he should. Hajime is the only person who can get through to him and help him come out of his shell. That leftover trust is key.

And finally, in a non-despair setting, Hajime and Nagito probably don’t interact a lot outside of in passing. When they do, Hajime ends up slowly getting Nagito to be less cruel about the Reserve course. They have a more even playing field here because they’re both ordinary students. One of them was just lucky. Nagito is still a total weirdo, but he’s a person who’s had a hard life. They could be friends, maybe more depending on it. As long as they get along, it makes me happy.

Final Thoughts

I guess the main takeaway here is that it depends on the person how Nagito reacts to them. He really does like all of his classmates to varying degrees. He wants to befriend them and get along, but the way he behaves keeps them at arm’s length. That’s fine with him, but...he really does crave more than just a passing relationship with people.

He wants friends and someone to love. He wants relationships. He’s just socially impaired and afraid of them being hurt.

[sunbrights]

dvd commentary: viewfinder

(For anon, because I also have a special place in my heart for "viewfinder", and I wanted to talk about it more.

This isn't going to go on AO3, for a few reasons that I'll spare you guys from getting into, but I know that Tumblr isn't very kind to long text posts. If this is a pain to read let me know and I'll try to find another alternative!

I hope you guys enjoy!)

I originally wanted to write "viewfinder" as the first of a series of quickfics exploring friendships that have a lot of potential, in my opinion, but don't get a lot of screentime for whatever reason. I really enjoy both Peko and Mahiru as characters, though, and the longer I went the more I wanted to do a deeper dive, which is how it came to be what is now.

(I still want to do something similar to what I was originally planning, though I don't think they'll be quickfics anymore; probably longer oneshots like this one. I do have another fic planned in the same vein that's intended to be a sort of companion to "viewfinder," though that might be a while out.)

Essentially, I was interested first by the fact that Peko mentions Mahiru a few times in her FTEs, which leaves open the possibility for them to be friends even if it's never looked at explicitly in the main game. There are a lot of peppered references to both Peko's and Mahiru's FTEs in here as a result of that (which may or may not have already been obvious). Second, I was interested in the impact on Peko of having to kill her, outside of the consequences for herself and Fuyuhiko in the context of the killing game, especially if the two of them had been friends beforehand. Striking a balance between those two concepts, tonally, was really tough, but in the end I decided I didn't want to leave either one of them out.

Nitty gritty commentary under the cut!

** **

Koizumi has taken at least four photographs of her since they arrived on the island. One was a group photo, taken the first day; the other three were taken covertly, when she thought Peko wasn’t aware. (Peko cannot afford not to be aware.)

I really agonized over how many photos Mahiru would reasonably have taken at this point. I think this number (and the one later, when Mahiru shows Peko all of them) changed at least five or six times. Why?? I have no idea. Weird hang ups in editing hell.

She does the same with the others, with similar frequency; most of them rarely notice, if ever. Peko allows it because she sees no reason not to, but she does consider the possibility of Koizumi having goals beyond a few candid photographs.

(She brings this up to the young master, and he rolls his eyes.

“Koizumi’s a fucking goody-goody,” he says, feet kicked up on the edge of his desk. “She’s not worth worrying about. If it bugs you, tell her to knock it off. Otherwise, I don’t give a shit what she does.”)

The next time Koizumi takes a photo of her, Peko is out splitting coconuts on the beach. It starts out as just her, Mioda, and a handful of others, but once they start shouting about the quality of the coconut juice, it isn’t long before the rest of the class begins to file in.

This section was tough to get right, and a lot of it ended up getting cut; I almost ended up cutting the whole section (I did a couple times, I think), but I'm glad I was eventually able to get it where I wanted it. The coconut special event in particular felt like a good starting place to me because it's the earliest point that we see Peko bonding and socializing with the others, even if she didn't really intend to.

At one point Souda, Hinata, and Mioda hold six coconuts out in a line; Peko slices through all of them in a single swing, and hears the familiar snap of Koizumi’s shutter behind her.

The others all whoop as the tops of the coconuts hit the sand. Koizumi rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling even as she steps back. When they start handing out the remaining shells, Peko brings one over to her.

“I was wondering,” she says, after Koizumi has taken the first sip of her juice, “would it be all right for me to see that photo?”

“The one I just took of you? Sure, if you want.” Koizumi pulls on the strap of her camera to swing it back up towards her. It looks unwieldy to hold in one hand, but she does it without much effort at all. “Don’t worry, you look really cool in it.”

The digital display of the camera is grainy and cluttered with functional symbols, but the most important parts of the image are clear. Peko discovers that she isn’t the subject of the photo, as she’d assumed— instead, she is the dynamic foreground to the actual subjects: Souda, Hinata, and Mioda, their hands held out and their faces lit up in varying degrees of awe, fear, and delight. The line of Peko’s shoulders and the draw of her blade act as a frame for the smiles of her classmates.

(Peko can also tell that her form is off: she’s holding her right shoulder too high, and it caused the cut in the final coconut to be uneven. It’s hardly Koizumi’s fault, but having such laziness immortalized will bother her for days.)

“What do you think?”

“It’s... surprising.”

“‘Surprising’?” Koizumi draws the word out. It’s the wrong one, going by the way her brows pinch together. She twists the camera back towards herself to squint at the display. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Peko struggles to elaborate. It’s difficult to find the words to describe something when she isn’t certain of what it is in the first place. “It could have simply captured the trick they asked me to perform,” she decides on, “but instead it captures the feelings of everyone involved.” She hesitates, then clarifies: “I like it.”

Peko's much better than Hajime at giving the kind of feedback Mahiru likes to hear. She's a thoughtful character in general, but I also think she'd be familiar with what helpful feedback sounds like, sort of a counterpoint to her own criticism of herself above.

Koizumi looks up at her, eyebrows lifting. “Yeah.” She smiles, and it’s easy and friendly. “Yeah, that’s it exactly, actually. Thank you.”

Mahiru's smiles get mentioned a lot in this story, which is intentional; Peko's hyperawareness of them is meant to play into her own self-consciousness over struggling with smiling herself.

“You’re welcome,” Peko says, even if she doesn’t understand what she has to be thanked for. Koizumi seems pleased regardless, and she leans over to show Peko the other photos she’d taken so far.

There’s no harm in letting her keep taking them, she decides.

*

They have lunch together, sometimes. Both she and Koizumi tend to eat earlier than the others, so the hotel restaurant is often empty; on the days when neither of them are away doing other things, they sit out on the balcony and Koizumi shows her the photos she’d taken that morning.

“You know, I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about,” Koizumi says one day, dimming a photo of Togami and his spread of breakfast from her camera’s display. She pulls a small, squat album out of her camera bag and lays it out on the table between them. “Here. These are all the pictures I’ve taken of you so far.”

By Peko’s tally, Koizumi has taken six photos of her: the four she’d already been aware of, the one of her slicing the coconuts, and an additional group photo since.

In this album, there are eight.

I feel like a talent like Mahiru's has to be multifaceted; she's creatively and technically talented, obviously, but she also has to be adept enough to physically take photographs in a way that captures moments without imparting an observer effect.

That, and I think it creates a point of commonality between Peko's talent and Mahiru's (Peko being constantly aware of herself and her surroundings vs Mahiru separating herself from her surroundings in order to document them) that helps make them peers, in a backwards sort of way.

“I feel like I must be getting something wrong,” Koizumi says. She leans her chin on one hand, and the puff of her sigh scatters her bangs. “No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get the right shot of you.”

Peko touches the edge of a photo of herself leaning on the hotel restaurant’s railing. She tries to remember when it possibly could have been taken. “I don’t understand.”

“Well… Okay, look at this one.” Koizumi taps her nail against one of the group shots on the page: all eight girls standing together, smudged with chocolate and flour. “You had fun that day, right? At least, I thought you did.”

“Yes,” Peko answers. She studies the photo, trying to understand the flaw. The form is excellent and the colors are bright; it’s everything one would expect from Koizumi’s talent. “I… enjoy baking, sometimes. It was a welcome distraction.”

I like the idea of Peko enjoying cooking, especially baking, in spite of her not liking sweets. (The logic being that it's something fun she can do, and the results can be shared with people she cares about to make them happy, too.) Y'all probably can probably see that cropping up in a few stories of mine.

“But you’re the only one not smiling in the picture.” Koizumi flips the pages of her album back and forth. “See? You’re not smiling in any of them. This one kind of comes close,” she touches an image of Peko sitting together with Tanaka and Mioda while the Four Dark Devas of Destruction explore a sand castle, “but I’m not sure it counts. You look happy, but you’re not really smiling.”

This is the first reference to a FTE, specifically Peko's third one:

PEKO: Mahiru told me that... I'm the only one who doesn't smile for her pictures.

Oh. It’s about that. Peko closes her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “It wasn’t my intention to ruin your photos.” If Koizumi’s goal is to capture moments of positivity in their circumstances, it makes sense that Peko wouldn’t fit into that vision. “If you’d rather I avoid being in them from now on, I understand.”

“What?” Peko feels Koizumi’s hand clasp around her wrist. When she opens her eyes, Koizumi has her other hand splayed out over the open page of the album. “No, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all, Peko-chan. I just thought... maybe there are other times when you’re having more fun, you know? Maybe I should take pictures of you then instead.”

I think ultimately Mahiru's photos celebrate mundane joy in her friends' lives; I don't think she'd want them to be a source of anxiety for anyone, especially not a friend.

Even through Koizumi’s fingers, Peko can see how the photos of her don’t fit in well with the ones on the opposite page. There is a clear interruption in the theme of the collection. Looking again, she doesn’t know how she didn’t notice it the first time.

“It isn’t that,” she says. “Smiling can be… a challenge, for me. It may be more efficient for you to focus on the others.”

“Oh.” Koizumi’s forehead creases in what Peko assumes is a combination of sympathy and confusion. “Well, that’s okay. It’s not really about the smiles themselves, anyway. It’s more… whether or not you’re happy in the moment.” She smiles then, one that’s small and apologetic, and for a moment Peko can’t fathom it ever being that easy. “So don’t worry about it. Okay?”

Peko says, “I’ll try,” and means it.

She still thinks about it for the rest of the afternoon.

*

Koizumi takes fewer photos in the days after Hanamura’s execution. It’s understandable; there aren’t many causes for any of them to be smiling in that aftermath. She spends most of her mornings and afternoons out away from the others, but when Peko asks to see the photos, she declines. (“I’ve never been proud of my landscapes,” she admits. “It always feels like there’s something missing.”)

Little crossover tidbit: Natsumi preferring to take pictures of nature in "by the claw of dragon" is a reference to my headcanon here that Mahiru doesn't enjoy it much.

The next time she arrives at the hotel restaurant early enough for lunch, she’s the brightest Peko has seen her in days.

“Peko-chan! Look, I have a surprise for you.”

She slides onto the opposite bench and sets her lunch aside, an afterthought. “I was right, I think.” She unzips one of the outside pockets of her camera bag to produce a photo, newly printed. “I just needed to get the right shot of you.”

Having said the above re: Mahiru not wanting her photos to be a source of anxiety for people, I do think that she would keep trying, and that she probably would have been one of the best people (next to Hajime) to help Peko get past her mental blocks.

Peko doesn’t understand. She’d only been practicing with Hinata for a couple days, and his comedic timing leaves much to be desired. “Is that…?”

“It sure is.” Koizumi’s smile is proud and eager. “Here, see for yourself.”

She slides the photo across the table, and Peko draws it toward herself with the tip of her finger, careful not to smudge.

It’s a picture of her from earlier that morning. Her, and the young master.

“What do you know, right? I was so worried he was going to ruin it.” Koizumi sets her chin in both hands, and Peko can see the way her smile flattens out sardonically. “But it turns out even Kuzuryuu can take a nice picture every now and then.”

It is a nice picture. The angle is high, and neither she nor the young master have noticed the camera; Koizumi must have taken it from the restaurant stairs. She vaguely remembers the moment: she’d passed him on her way out of the hotel, and had only paused to say good morning. She remembers him, half turned towards her with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders and his smile relaxed. In Koizumi’s photo, she smiles back.

His singular order from the very first day had been to maintain the illusion that they were only classmates. They look it, in this picture. He’d be satisfied with it, she thinks.

Not sure how obvious this is, but the picture described here is intended to be the one Fuyuhiko mentions during chapter 5, if you talk to him in the hotel restaurant before going to the ruins with Sonia.

FUYUHIKO: It's the first time... I've seen a photo of Peko and me where we look like equals... FUYUHIKO: Tch, Mahiru... When the hell did she even take this photo?

“Sorry,” Koizumi says, after a moment. Her voice is gentler, and when Peko looks up her brows have drawn together, concerned. Oh. She’d misinterpreted Peko’s silence as offense. “I didn’t mean to— just be careful, Peko-chan, okay? I know you’re trying to help him and all, but that guy is bad news. You shouldn’t get involved with him.”

I figure that if anyone would have picked up on the fact that Peko is the one constantly "bumping into" Fuyuhiko and ferrying information back and forth to him, it would be Mahiru.

“He is… abrasive,” Peko allows. (She has rehearsed this answer in her head many times.) Koizumi’s brows disappear behind her bangs. “We shouldn’t let our guard down. But I think with time he might be open to cooperation.”

“Peko-chan.” Koizumi’s voice is still gentle, but has dropped low enough to not quite be called a whisper; it borderlines on conspiratorial. She chooses every word with careful deliberation. “This is the only picture I’ve been able to take of you smiling, even a little bit. Ever. Okay?”

Peko wills herself not to react, even as she feels her face and fingertips go cold. If she has in any way compromised—

“I’m not going to pretend I get it. Because I swear to every god there is, I don’t.” Her smile turns lopsided and embarrassed, and all at once Peko understands the sort of assumption she’s made. Her cold cheeks suddenly flush warm. “Seriously. That guy? Really?”

She has not rehearsed an answer for this.

Something in her expression must balk, because Koizumi holds both hands up, defensive. “No, it’s okay. I’m not going to ask, just—” She bites her lip, and Peko sees the way she rehearses her words in her head. “A guy like that, the kind of world he comes from? He’s not ever going to change. He’s too wrapped up in himself and his image to bother. Maybe he’s not dangerous yet, but he’s definitely not worth your time. Or anybody else’s, for that matter.”

Combine the above with how aggressively Mahiru and Fuyuhiko butt heads right out of the gate, and I ended up with this conversation. Mahiru wants Peko to be happy, but she also doesn't want her getting caught up with someone she sees as unreliable, self-absorbed, and dangerous. The friction that comes from that in Peko and Mahiru's friendship is inevitable, in my opinion, especially since Mahiru doesn't have all the context.

“We are in a dire situation,” Peko hears herself say. “Our only hope of success is through cooperation.”

Koizumi’s expression twists. “No, no. I know. You’re right.” She turns the photo on the table back toward her, and looks at that instead of at Peko. “But you have to admit, he’s not exactly falling over himself to cooperate with us, either.”

The young master wouldn’t disagree. Peko only shakes her head.

“I’m just saying, as a friend? You don’t need to bend over backwards to help someone who obviously doesn’t want it.” Koizumi picks the photo up by the corner, and is careful not to bend it when she puts it back in her bag. She zips the pocket closed with more force than she needs to. “Let him deal with his own problems.”

And a little dramatic irony, for flavor.

She is wrong, in more ways than she’ll ever understand.

*

That morning, the young master knocks on her door first.

Not pictured: me grappling with the timeline of chapter 2 to make any of this work, after I realized just how short it is between Fuyuhiko playing Twilight Syndrome and Mahiru's death. Say what you want about his yakuza talents, my boy can crank out a revenge plot like it's a frickin' office memo.

The photos must have been taken in the heat of the moment, but their composition is still stark and harshly beautiful. The framing of Natsumi-sama’s blood-spattered corpse makes excellent use of the rule of thirds.

Peko says, “Koizumi,” before the young master has had a chance to say anything at all.

When he throws the open envelope across the length of her cottage, the rest of the photos spill and scatter across her floor like fallen leaves.

*

Peko offers to be the one to deliver the message, but the young master insists he do it himself. She watches the mailbox instead, to ensure his message is heard and understood.

By noon, the mailbox is empty.

Koizumi doesn’t respond immediately. It’s understandable; if the young master doesn’t remember the incident, it’s unlikely she does, either. Peko watches for her anyway, and late in the afternoon, Koizumi sits on the deck of her cottage with the largest of her photo albums in her lap.

Peko knows it to be the one with the final prints of her photos, after she’s had time to crop and color balance them. Her face is lined with concentration and stress, less like reminiscing and more like personal critique, but Peko has made enough threats in her lifetime to see the fear around every edge, in the shakiness of Koizumi’s muscles and the tightness of her mouth.

If you've read some of my other stuff, you might have seen that I like to write in very, very close third person. That makes communicating the arcs of characters who aren't the POV character (through the filter of the POV character) a fun challenge for me, and this is a good example of me trying to do that with Mahiru. I wanted to highlight the point after Mahiru has seen the pictures but before she's played Twilight Syndrome, when she must have recognized the pictures as hers but been shocked and afraid by the contents. Peko interprets it a little differently.

The message has both been heard and understood.

That confirmed, there is no reason for Peko to interact with her any further, now that she’s been identified as an enemy of the Kuzuryuu Clan. Clearly, Peko has made a grave error in underestimating her as a potential threat; any further mistakes would only exacerbate the damage.

However, since arriving on the island the young master has had only one, singular request.

This is intended to be the first conflict between Peko's duty as a "tool" and the new friendships she's been making -- she uses her duty as an excuse to keep hanging out with Mahiru, right after she points out to herself that she shouldn't.

Peko holds out her hand to get Koizumi’s attention.

“I wasn’t back in time for lunch today,” she explains. “Could I look at your photos with you now instead?”

Koizumi still smiles, even if it’s thin. “Yeah. Here, come sit with me.”

Ordinarily, Koizumi is happy enough to talk through her photographs while Peko observes, the whens and whats more than the hows and whys. (“My work needs to speak for itself,” Koizumi had said, the one time Peko had asked, “If I have to explain it, then I didn’t do my job right.”) Today they sit in silence while she pages through the album, one by one.

Many of these final prints are ones that Peko has yet to see. Owari and Nidai, bloodied and grinning, grasping each other’s forearms. Saionji with two packets of gummy bears flared out in front of her face like twin fans. Souda with a screwdriver in one hand and Nanami’s Gamegirl in the other, and Nanami sitting beside him, reaching for it with both hands. Hanamura in the hotel kitchen, flipping flapjacks in a pan while Mioda cheers in the background.

You might have noticed by now that I had a lot of fun coming up with different scenarios for Mahiru's photos in this fic. I was always a little sad we didn't get to see more of them!

(There is exactly one picture of Koizumi herself, where she isn’t in a group. The photo isn’t candid, but she doesn’t look prepared, and the framing is sloppy. When Koizumi reaches it in the album, she’s quick to turn the page.)

This is intended to be the picture Hajime takes of her in her final FTE:

MAHIRU: So... I was thinking about taking at least one shot of myself while I'm on this island. MAHIRU: The me... who's here like this...

“I know that it’s not the most groundbreaking subject matter ever,” Koizumi says eventually, “but that’s fine. People don’t need their lives to be groundbreaking, or dramatic, or- or tragic for there to be beauty in them. You know?”

She turns the page, and her fingers land on a photograph of Hinata caught mid-sentence, his mouth open too wide and his eyes halfway through blinking. It makes her smile, a real one that isn’t pained or forced. For that moment, the lines of stress and fear on her face smooth out into nothing.

And again, this is intended to be the photo Mahiru takes of Hajime in her first FTE:

MAHIRU: Well, I guess this is good enough. Yep, that sure is a dumb-looking face.

“Yes,” Peko answers. “I think so.”

*

Koizumi’s allotted time runs out. The young master is not inclined to give her more.

More evidence of me playing fast and loose with said unreal ch 2 timeline.

This whole section actually wasn't in the original draft of this story, and I waffled a lot on whether or not I should include it; I wanted Fuyuhiko's influence to be felt, but I didn't actually want to include him in the story itself too much. In the end I decided I needed it to bridge the arc I wanted for Peko in the story, which I'll get into in a minute.

“I’ll go with you,” Peko tells him, when they’re alone.

“No.” He’s bent over his desk, which is neat and nearly empty now that Koizumi has the photographs. All that’s left are the letters he’s just written, folded and stacked and ready to set a plan in motion. He won’t look at her. “No. Your plans aren’t changing, okay? Go- go do your thing with the girls. I’ll be done before then anyway.”

That is not an option. She can’t agree, so she doesn’t.

“I’m going to talk to her,” he goes on. His voice trembles under the weight of all his anger and anxiety. “And if that bitch has something to answer for, she’ll fucking answer for it. That’s the only thing I can do, right? That’s what Natsumi deserves.”

Peko hears it, the way his resolve doesn’t shore up the way he wants it to. There are fractures in his certainty of what he’s been taught, and every day they get a little wider; his heart is too big and beats too strongly for them not to. He struggles with it, but there is strength in struggle, not shame.

One of the remaining blank sheets of paper crumples under his left hand. He hears the fractures too, but they sound different to him than they do to her.

There is so much weighing him down.

She wants to take it away from him, or at least help him shoulder the burden. But Koizumi’s philosophies, Hinata’s advice and encouragement— all of it fails her in the moment, when it matters the most. She remembers when they were small and cold and lost in the mountains, how his face had pinched with fear and tears, how she’d failed him then, too.

Like I mentioned earlier, I was interested in Peko and Mahiru's FTEs, especially in the larger context of the main plot. If you WERE to finish Peko's FTEs before the, uh, cutoff point, for example, her later ones would necessarily need to fall around/during all the behind-the-scenes fuckery happening in chapter 2. So, with that in mind, here's this from her fourth FTE:

PEKO: Mahiru showed me her photos the other day. They were filled with images of smiling faces. PEKO: I don't know how else to say this, but... they were very nice photos. I learned that smiles give people power. [ ... ] PEKO: If I had been able to smile and tell him that everything was going to be okay, even if it was a lie... PEKO: I might've been able to take away his fear.

The other piece of this is the fact that Peko wants to protect Fuyuhiko, but she doesn't do it by stopping him from killing Mahiru, which would protect everyone. In this story, I wanted to open the door to the possibility that Peko may have wanted to try and convince him away from it, through her interactions with Mahiru and Hajime and the others, but struggled with it because of the nature of her "role." In my mind, this is the point where that door shuts again, and she falls back on what she knows.

She says, “Young master—” but he’s already standing.

“Don’t call me that. Just- go, all right? I don’t have a lot of time.” He tucks the letters into the inside pocket of his jacket. “We’ll talk when it’s done.”

"I don't have a lot of time" was an inside joke with myself about how dumb the timeline of ch 2 is. That shit really got to me, y'all.

*

Koizumi is pale that morning. It makes her concealer too dark against her skin, and when she lowers her head shadows still steal into the bags under her eyes. Her hands shake when she waves at Peko from across the pool.

“Morning, Peko-chan.” Koizumi breathes in deeply, for no reason Peko can see except to steady her voice. “You’re still going to the beach with everyone today, right?”

Peko nods.

“That’s good.” Koizumi nods, too. She keeps nodding, and looks down at her hands. “I’m glad. It sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Mahiru is in a pretty dark place at this point, but her priority (like it is with Mikan and Ibuki) is still that her friends are happy and have fun. There's always tomorrow, right?

“You won’t be coming with us?”

Peko knows the answer. She asks the question anyway, because she must. Because as much as she feels for Koizumi’s position, the young master’s safety comes first, and his will comes second. There is no choice to be made.

Again: she wants to protect him, but going against his wishes to do that isn't an option. The rest of this is intended to be Peko turning to fully embrace the "tool" mentality she thinks she's supposed to have after slipping from it.

“No. I’m sorry, I wish I could.” She is hugging her arms close to herself. Her fingers tighten around her elbows until the skin under her nails turns white. “I just... I have something I need to take care of. But you should go have fun, okay?”

“You’ll be missed,” Peko tells her. It isn’t a lie, except by omission, but she still feels like something has been wedged deep beneath her sternum. “We’ll take photos. For your record.”

Peko's not talking about the beach trip. In case anybody wasn't sure.

“I’d like that. Thanks.” Even now, even with all this, Koizumi is still able to smile. For all her practicing, Peko is sure she’s learned nothing at all. “Have you seen Ibuki-chan anywhere?”

*

In the end, Koizumi never sees her approach. It’s a stroke of luck Peko doesn’t deserve, but the outcome would not have changed regardless. She will protect who she must protect. Kill who she must kill. If she can do nothing else, she can do that.

The young master reaches for his weapon, and she is there.

There was originally a transitive verb in the second clause of this sentence (I forget exactly how I phrased it) that didn't get changed to what it is now ("she is there") until the final edit. Ultimately I changed it because I wanted to emphasize Peko's attempt to take agency away from herself, especially in the context of the narrative she pushes in the trial later.

[hajihiko]

god the idea of all of class 77 just having this weird special bond with eachother is so special to me 😭😭 i do wonder, though- given all of them are dealing with a LOT, and recovery isn't pretty, do you think fights/kind of lashing out would ever happen? if so, with who, and how do you think the group would handle that kind of stuff?

Oh for SUUUURE I dont go into it as much, because I too love people being special to each other and the sweetness of it, but these are messy people in uniquely messy situation so for sure they're gonna clash

Like, no WAY Sonia and Souda don't have a huge blowout at some point, maybe before anyone starts waking up even. Sonia deserves to have a moment where she just fuckin yells at him and lets it all out and makes him take her seriously enough to apologize and think about himself, and then they can continue being their own weird brand of friends.

Fuyuhiko still has anger issues, even though he's trying hard to be a kinder person, so he's definitely gonna have moments of snapping at people. I think he's a little too cowed to be arguing with Mahiru, but I could see him having it out with Hiyoko once or twice. I also think things might be a bit tense between him and Peko while Peko adapts to their new non-indentured friendship.

And yeah Hiyoko still has a major attitude problem and tbh, TBH, I think she deserves to get a little smack of "Not Acceptable" consequences. I think she might have a fight at Fuyuhiko, and OOF... Mikan. I think those two just need to be kept away from each other for a while after waking up, possibly the closest thing the group gets to repeating the murder part of the game. Mahiru employed to keep an eye on Hiyoko and Hajime keeping an eye on Mikan, shit probably gets real tense.

I think Impostor is... not NOT mad at Teru, but calm about it, so there's no huge fight, just cold shoulders and awkwardness.

And then there's Nagito. Yknow. Hes a whole topic in himself, I'd imagine Teru doesn't feel super warm towards him and there's the really bad tension between him and Hajime too. Hajime *would* sort of be keeping an eye on him, but. That's not good for Hajime's own psyche, so he is forcibly replaced by various others.

That's just already-established grievances. However, based on just. Unfortunate clashing;

Fuyuhiko has anger issues, Souda has some history of abuse. They probably need to find a balance there, where Souda never actually feels unsafe and Fuyuhiko manages to let out steam without being taken too seriously. He also might clash with and need to watch himself around Mahiru and Mikan.

TeruTeru gets sat the FUCK down and told that if he crosses people's boundaries, there will be Consequences. ESPECIALLY if he tries any shit with Akane or Mikan.

Hiyoko does not get to be Like That with Mikan anymore. She tries, just as a first reaction (her attitude is probably a defense mechanism and she does feel unsafe around Mikan), but it's not allowed to go as far as it used to. Not with anyone else either. Also Mikan probably needs to keep a distance herself.

I've talked about Mikan on her own before and the potential of her being s more complex case than the rest, on account that she might remember her entire time with Junko and not just gradual bits of it. If so, I made / am making the little Eye Yoink comic bits, which would probably be the most serious conflict. I'd just imagine that she's kind of .. generally unstable, and shouldn't be left alone with anyone too long. I kind of like the idea that she like.... well if she's the only one who fully remembers what things were like in school, that's already very alienating, and she might try to intentionally trigger other people's memories (maybe not even out of malice, just desperation and wanting someone else to Get It). But that might be a big problem for people who are just not ready to remember all that stuff. People who are already a bit grey on the moral spectrum (Fuyuhiko, Hiyoko, Peko) and people who have a hard time dealing with who they used to be (Nekomaru, Gundham, Sonia... kind of everyone tbh but some are better at compartmentalizing).

FSR I've just decided that Gundham is in a physically bad condition when he wakes up, and ofc Akane. That would probably be a bit rough to deal with, two people who base a lot of their self-worth on being strong (very different ideas of strength though). That's more of an internal struggle that might have some collateral damage but still. I can see them getting frustrated and lashing out at people like Nekomaru and Ibuki, who have obvious and abundant energy and are more okay with their unfamiliar bodies.

Ryota is just generally Anxious around absolutely everyone. Thankfully Impostor is very protective of him and takes good care of him, and people like Ibuki and Akane are quick to sort of forcefully adopt him, but I'll bet there's moments where he just locks himself in his room for a couple of days because Fuyuhiko yelled at him or Hiyoko called him a smelly shrimp boy or Gundham cursed him or something.

Nagito needs to curb The Way He Talks about stuff, at least a little, because it tends to send people dangerously close to to a bad place. He only wants what's best for everyone!...kinda? But he tends to just give off the opposite energy. Also boy needs to learn some self worth. So for his sake and everyone else's, he needs some mental assistance, but the person most qualified for that is the person that he clashed with the very most. I dont know what the solution to that is lol its probably an ongoing conflict

The good thing is, there's many of them! So I think whenever there is a big fight or a lot of conflict, someone can always step up for both parties and help keep the peace, without disrupting their routine too much. No one ever needs to be left out, at least.