#hajime hinata (hope arc)

[penguwastaken]

Why did the Remnants of Despair do that?

Spoilers for Danganronpa 3 (obviously)

I've made it very clear that I really like Danganronpa 3 and that I think a lot of the criticisms are unfair or misguided. One common criticism however stuck with me for the longest time. In Hope Arc, after Hajime and his friends helped put an end to the Future Foundation killing game, they proceeded to seemingly "cover it up." On the surface, this seems strange. The series constantly criticized Hope's Peak for covering up incidents, so why is this any different? After some time thinking, I think I managed to put together why.

At first, the video starts with the Remnants of Despair seemingly taking credit for the Future Foundation killing game. While technically, yes, Kazuo Tengan was a Remnant of Despair, he was completely disconnected from the rest of the people in the video and had no affiliation with them. However, it's the next part where this gets interesting.

Now despite what you might think, there is a LOT to dissect in these four lines.

"If the world were to be saved and reach a happy ending... Doesn't that strike you as boring?"

Obviously to anybody who has watched Hope Arc, this line is kinda ironic considering it generally has a pretty happy and sweet ending. However, what's important to note is that to the general public, there wasn't a happy ending. A majority of Future Foundation's leaders were just wiped out and the Remnants of Despair are still presumably on the run. So why would Hajime say this? Well I feel like the next bit of text should fill you in. "That is why we will once again dye the world in despair. The world needs despair." This line is REALLY interesting to me as it directly ties into one of the major themes in Danganronpa 3. Throughout Future Arc, Kyosuke believes that the only way to achieve true hope is to eliminate all despair. However, Makoto (and Tengan) believe that despair needs to exist alongside hope in order for hope to be meaningful, otherwise it's meaningless. True hope isn't blind happiness, it's keeping a positive mindset while overcoming despair. This sheds a completely different light on what Hajime is saying. He isn't just taking the fall so Makoto and his friends can move on without trouble, he and his friends are taking on the burden of despair as a way of atoning for their actions as remnants. This way, everyone can unite against them. They're making a sacrifice so that way hope can continue to manifest and have meaning.

This is shown again later in Makoto's final conversation with Kyosuke. When asked if he is able to carry the burden of hope, he mentions that the others are carrying the burden of despair. Now things are starting to make sense. Hajime and his friends decide to hold onto the burden of being despairs as a way to atone for their crimes and give the world something to unite against, choosing to sacrifice their image in order to help make the world better. The difference with Class 77's sacrifice here and Hope's Peak behavior is that Hope's Peak covered up incidents that were their fault so they could protect their image. Their motivations were entirely selfish and only to benefit themselves. Meanwhile, Hajime and his friends sacrificed their own reputation in order to help give the world hope in a strange, roundabout way along with taking accountability for their own sins. They aren't pretending to be innocent, they're acknowledging their own guilt and using it to benefit the world.

I also think that Makoto and his friend's reaction to the video is pretty interesting. They don't seem very excited, but more confused and shocked. It's almost like they're still trying to why they did this in the first place.

After a moment, they move on from that subject entirely. Byakuya tells Makoto that he did well and his hope helped in the end despite his refusal.

Despite that, despair unfortunately did take a toll on them. Even still, it can't be denied that hope did win in the end because of despair, further showing that the two need to coexist. Things may look bad now, but just like, always they'll get better. Makoto and Byakuya both realized what the point of the video was. In a way, the video was more like them taking accountability for everything they've done as opposed to just the covering Future Foundation killing game.

The former remnants finally head off to Jabberwock Island to continue their atonement, making one last sacrifice and carrying the burden of despair. I hope what I wrote can help you see Class 77's actions in Hope Arc in a new light. Like I said, a lot of people have criticized them, but in my opinion I think it's a very fitting and satisfying way to end their arc. (Now's the part where I make a "Goodbye Despair" joke.)

[danganronpa-textposts]

[eebooduh]

Do you think Hajime ever feels like Frankenstein's monster? Does he think that he is the collection of traits from people now long deceased? A creation never meant to exist? A creation so vile he brought about the destruction of the world? Do you think he thinks that? Do you think he lives with that? How does he move on?

[spittyfishy]

Bonus: Izuru Kamukura

Not properly a remnant or ultimate but a secret third thing (lobotomy victim)

[funishment-rhyme]

Chiaki Nanami, Who Sleeps Well After This

What if the AI Chiaki from Danganronpa 2 knew that the Future Foundation based her on a real girl? In fact, what if they gave AI Chiaki the same memories? What if she had trouble distinguishing her new "life" from her past? Or is there a dividing line at all? (A slight re-imagining of Danganronpa 2's canon.)

⭐ WORDS: ~1000 ⭐ TAGS...

CHARACTERS: Chiaki Nanami, Hajime Hinata, Usami, Makoto Naegi, Monokuma, Alter Ego, others mentioned

TROPES: canon rewrite, angst with a bittersweet ending

TIMELINE: Hope's Peak Academy Arc (DR2)

TRIGGERS: blood (mild)

MISC: second person POV (Chiaki is "you")

///

Your name is Chiaki Nanami. You were born on March 14th to two parents whose faces you cannot remember now, and you remained an only child for all eighteen of your short years. First you went to Yamaki High School, and then, on the same day you beat the original Ninja Gaiden, Hope’s Peak Academy scouted you as their Super High School Level Gamer. 

///

Hotel Mirai, soon after arriving at Jabberwock Island. You settle into one of the lobby chairs, sink against the cushion until your knees practically touch your chest, and try to throw yourself into Super Mario Galaxy on your Switch before—

“Hi—um, is this yours?”

That voice—his voice—lights up a part of your mind like the backbox of a pinball machine. After the carefully constructed bytes of your brain calculate the ideal way to respond, you force yourself to look up at this intruder, slack-jawed.

“Sorry. I guess I picked it up,” he tells you. “Not that I remember. Maybe you dropped it in all the, uh, commotion.”

He smiles uncertainly. You let your algorithms sort themselves out until you feel comfortable enough to examine the object in his palm.

A hairpin—shaped like the player’s ship from Galaga. It’s yours, but you don’t know why.

///

Your name is Chiaki Nanami, and you did indeed come online March 14th, but you had siblings. For one: a twin sister who looked nothing like you, because she was a rabbit. Also: an older brother who taught you how to talk and how to think. You arrived into a digital world of darkness and data and you had two dads, only one of whom was still living.

///

You take the pin and tuck it into your hair. 

He says: “I’m Hinata. Hajime Hinata.”

Inside of you, an engine, a beating heart of numbers and code, screams at you to answer. Politely, it demands, like a friend! And yet there is memory, too, physical memory, from the time before your birth: another Chiaki, burning with betrayal, gasping her last on the ground of a beautiful schoolmate’s torture chamber.

That Chiaki beats against the walls of your artificially intelligent script. She wants you to cry and wail and force Hinata to beg for forgiveness, and so you want that, too. 

This is not the tutorial level you had hoped for.

///

Your name is Chiaki Nanami, and you would have stood in line for a Playstation 5. Unfortunately, you are dead.

///

“I’m—”

You can’t form your mouth around the words to answer this Hajime Hinata. It’s not that you don’t know how: your older brother gave you an instruction manual on humanity, and on blending in, before he loaded you into the Neo World Program. It’s not that you don’t remember who you are, either. 

Quite the opposite. It’s that your fingertips twitch with the rage of a girl you never met, but whose avenging angel you are supposed to be. It’s that you are something called Chiaki Nanami and Living Dad intended you to save the souls of fifteen students from Hope’s Peak Academy. It’s that you don’t want to do this, and you also want to do it, and you must, you must, you must.

///

Because—

Because your name is Chiaki Nanami, and you are the ghost of a murdered girl. A girl whose body was never found, but whose image became the secret face of a revolution no one wanted. A girl who might have looked at you in the computer and said: you’re like a Rotom. From Pokémon?

A girl who is you and who is not you.

///

Before the Neo World Program, Living Dad, there in cyber-purgatory, explained: Sometimes things might get uncomfortable on that island…because we had to put limitations on you and the Usami AI. I don’t really understand it, but…Alter Ego needed to turn off some switches in your code, I guess. To protect you and the others. 

You replied: Oh, like a level-cap.

Though you couldn’t see his face—only hear his voice, view his keystrokes—he seemed pleased with this answer. If you think too hard on what happened to her—to you—before, it’ll hurt. Just sort-of hold it in your heart for now. But you’ll have Usami whenever you need help. You’re not alone, Chiaki Nanami.

///

“I’m—”

A gaggle of your classmates barge into the hotel, so you turn your attention to them instead.

You never do officially introduce yourself to Hajime Hinata for the second time.

///

Anyway, that would be a lie, and one of Living Dad’s binds on you—besides the inability to act on your hate and fury and despair—is that you can’t lie. 

The truth is this: you’re not Chiaki Nanami. You’re just made from her spare parts. Electric necromancy. A reissued console, valueless.

///

In the worst way possible, the Neo World Program starts to fail. A long side-story, an unnecessary DLC. For better or worse, you find yourself by Hinata’s side daily, as your classmates’ avatars despawn into blood and…nothingness. The grief sinks to the bottom of your heart and you hold it there, as Living Dad wanted.

Hinata, too, grieves. When he’s preoccupied with his thoughts, you look up at him, wondering if he’ll watch you die again.

///

You’re not Chiaki Nanami. You’re half-finished, a mold of backslashes in your older brother’s metaphorical hands. He knew a lot, but not what an ideal friend might look like—which is what Living Dad required of you. In that digital world of darkness and data, they both called out for help.

A chorus responded, from everywhere and nowhere: Chiaki Nanami, Chiaki Nanami, it’s Chiaki, it’s Chiaki, love that girl, miss her, need her, if she, if we, if they. Familiar voices. Young ones. Harmonious.

If you’re spare parts, you’re stitched with love, you’re filled with devotion, you’re held together with the grieving memory of fifteen terrorists you admired.

///

Fifteen friends.

///

As it happens, Hinata does watch you die again. Before that, however, in a virus of a courtroom, your sister holds her bunny paws to her heart and asks you: “I wonder where you got your personality from?”

You say: “Maybe our dad and our big brother…don’t you think?”

And it’s a little true. Living Dad and Alter Ego definitely blessed you with patience, bravery, and quick wit. A golden triforce all for you, a newborn executable named Chiaki Nanami. Mostly, though—

///

You’re her. You’re not her. You want to break your classmates for what they allowed to happen to the outside Chiaki, and now to you, the so-called traitor. But you won’t. It would be—self-harm. Damage over time. Drop one hit point, turn after turn. It would be—betrayal, a betrayal of their love, and you won’t let anyone get hurt like that again. Not here.

Monokuma grabs your hair, pulls you down, drags you and your sister bleeding along the courtroom floor. Before he does, though, you see yourself reflected in five sets of eyes, the remainder of Class 77B. Strangely, you’re not afraid. You see that they’re remade, just as they remade you. You are and were good enough for them: not a sequel, but a reboot. They're good enough for you.

///

You are Chiaki Nanami, and you are Chiaki Nanami, and after all is said and done, you sleep well.

[starshinerart]

A Few of my Headcanons for Danganronpa: Post Hope Arc (SPOILERS AHEAD)

• While rebuilding the REAL Jabberwock Island, the former Remnants of Despair build a statue of Chiaki (and Monomi) as a Memorial for her in the center of Jabberwock Park. The previous statue was destroyed during the tragedy.

• The cast of V3 attend New Hope's Peak as new students with Makoto as their headmaster. Except there are no meteorites and no Gofer Project. And nobody dies.

• Chiaki's body was preserved in a morgue underneath Hope's Peak (perhaps Junko had plans on using it for something). The former Remnants give her a proper burial at the site of her statue and some of her organs are saved for potential medical transplants (her blood type was O, which makes her a universal donor.)

• Nagito quickly burns his old Junko hand as well as Fuyuhiko's old Junko eye. Hajime is the only one who knows about Mikan taking one of Junko's internal organs (if you know, you know) and, now having all the talents, helps safely remove it from her and gives her Chiaki's in place of it.

• At first, Mikan is convinced that Nagito still hates her for the events of Chapter 3 when in reality, Nagito has let go of the grudge. As a result, Mikan tries to avoid Nagito due to this belief and Nagito believes this is because he is worthless scum. Not too long after, however, things are cleared up and the two are on good terms again.

• Makoto tries to pull off a surprise proposal to Kyoko, but being the Ultimate Detective, she's able to figure out what's going on. She still says yes though.

• Kyoko serves as a mentor for Shuichi.

[starrsilly]

scemer i love

[special-encounters]

I’m in a mood for angst heh-

Aliza was having a nightmare, she kept murmur words like “no” and such at one point she woke up “NO!” She was shaking a bit before she starting crying while mumbling

“N-no…I d-don’t be a-alone…”

@alizachan

*Hajime wraps his arms around her*

[luvvchu]

Raincore Hajime Hinata moodboard !

⊱ ───── {.⋅ ✧ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

I really enjoy this one :D I hope to improve my moodboards more, but for now I'd say they're pretty alright :P if you're reading this, I hope you have a lovely day, bye now !

-💕

[bubble-cola]

haiii i totally forgot danganronpa was like. still half a thing on tumblr. so happy late birthday hajime hinata and izuru kamukura (i drew these on jan 1 just didn’t post till now)

i’ve drawn this for their birthdays every year for three years now, can’t wait to see where i am in a year from now <3

[thenewfuture]

Hajime, Sonia, Akane, Fuyuhiko, and Kazuichi, anon just wanted to let you all know that I'm really, REALLY glad you all survived Monokuma's killing game. You're all good people and I'm really glad you five were able to triumph over Monokuma and AI Junko. I'm sure if Chiaki were here to see you now, she would be very proud of all of you for your accomplishment.

Y-yeah...

.......

Hajime....

It's fine... I'll manage.

By the way, I've been meaning to ask; wh-what are these things?

Oh these are products of Future Foundation created by the Ultimate Therapist. AI programmed bots mainly used for therapy and to increase mental health. They can talk to you, send pictures, all sorts of stuff.

We call them Anons.

Anons...?

Yeah! These things are so high tech and advanced!

This is some really high level programming that I've ever seen.

They have they're own little quirks and are very fun to talk to.

I see...

Well hi there, officially...

[lilypadding]

👒 maraudersdenier Follow

sometimes to feel alive I rewatch danganronpa season 1 and 2

#idk it was peak series to me #they had the hope's peak arc going #season 3 was completely different

5 notes

🪴 soniasansflowers Follow

I can't believe the surviving casts of DR are just walking around now??? you survived a genuine killing game and now you're just waking up on tuesday and driving to starbucks to get a drink????? what???????? 

#danganronpa #scribby.txt

111 notes

🧚‍♀️ loserrrville Follow

sorry but I still think it's funny that dr2 was the only season where they revived the cast 💀

#and the only cast that deserved it was s15 but you guys aren't ready for that convo #sdr2 #dr15

42 notes

🧸 danganwrongpers Following

🎮 monokumasmilk Following

Do you guys ever think about how everyone in Danganronpa isn't even real...? We'll never know their actual backstory, especially not from their perspective. Their memories are always wiped and replaced with hijinks fabrications. And we've already talked about how everything is real to them because it's in their head, but it's not. Their memories are built on lies. nobody in this show is real. 

🧨 fdr38frontlines Follow

average danganronpa fan discovers acting

#the reblog is funny and everything but op is onto something #I've gotten so uncomfortable whenever I think about it for too long #yeah they're all consenting adults #and they signed up for it knowing what would happen #but...

23.8k notes

☁️ komaedasoup Following

remember when people got so weird about nagito and hajime hanging out (and being actual friends in interviews) that they stopped talking to each other just to avoid you freaks shipping them 😭

👤 despairinglyhopeful-deactivated

they probably stopped talking publicly not privately 👀

☁️ komaedasoup Following

THIS 💥 POST 💥 IS 💥 ABOUT💥 YOU 💥

#be NORMAL??!?!

547 notes

🍇 junkorenoshimer Follow

everyone's suddenly so obsessed with danganronpa not being "ethical" but how did you guys not realize this show is kinda fucked when that one interview with makoto came out and he literally says he got nightmares of the game and intense survivor's guilt. like the signs have always been there

🎮 monokumasmilk Following

Yet you never made a post about it until now did you?

3.1k notes

🔑 wannabekirigiri Following

KYOKO'S RED CARPET LOOK??!?!?! 😍😍😍😍😍 SOBBING AND CRYING ADN SKINNING MYSELF RUGHT NOW

#i am normal so normal so

2 notes

🎀 sdr2-supremacy Following

the things I would let hajime hinata do to me

🍡 hinatahajimeofficial Following

Okay let me run you over

🎀 sdr2-supremacy Following

HAJIME??????

#help I forgot he was real #DOES HE SCROLL THROUGH HIS OWN TAG??? 

52.9k notes

🔑 wannabekirigiri Following

all my mutuals will be very happy to know I GOT CAST FOR SEASON 53!!!!

#for legal reasons this is a joke haha 

1 note

based entirely on @okthatsgreat 's original post

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

I'm so excited to have seen the wonderfully cute kamuhina, so I want to talk about this ship while I'm still in the swing of it. Actually, when I drew the below one before, I wanted to draw a kamuhina too:

My interpretation is more like brotherly love, but I really like the idea that Izuru has a strong attachment to Hajime. When SDR2 was first released (that is, before DRAE was released or DR3 aired), there was a fanon that the reason Izuru used AI Junko was because he had already predicted Hajime's revival after the killing game in NWP. In other words, this is an interpretation that says Izuru's goal was to revive Hajime from the very beginning. When I found out about it, I thought it made a lot of sense and I really liked it. I think it's really fascinating to interpret Izuru, who can do everything, as wanting to return back to being an ordinary person like Hajime. 

Now that DR3 has aired, I think the canon is that he didn't expect it to go that far (he was just hoping for something unexpected), but I personally like to think that Izuru was interested in Hajime Hinata's life and came to hope for his revival sometime between the Despair Arc and SDR2. And I hope that Hajime's presence is the most important thing for him.

Going back to the topic of my earlier post linked above, the reason I didn't draw Kamuhina is because it didn't seem to be very popular on Tumblr, and I was worried that it might be seen as unethical. However, there seem to be other people who like it, so I would like to draw it sometime. 😌

[moonlit-raven-haven]

having a life crisis because i just realized that hajime hinata lost himself completely. like sure he found himself in the neo world program again but did he really? the answer is no. no he fucking didn't. the hajime that we know and love from sdr 2 is just a version that hajime created of himself but in actuality the hajime that we see in the despair arc is literally DEAD. there is no trace of who hajime actually was while attending hopes peak academy, BUT one could argue that hajime is still himself because at his core he never lost his identity (izuru crying ver chiaki's death). BUT then again at his core hajime hates himself. he hates himself and the fact that he doesn't have a talent. he doesn't think that he is worthy in any way. so is hajime (postgame) really HAJIME? thinking deeply.

[gladosluver]

music and artists i think you'd enjoy based on your favorite danganronpa character

- for characters with less songs, expect them to be edited in the future - if there's a song that's instrumental doesn't really fit the vibe of the character, then look at the lyrics. a lot of these are in japanese so i recommend looking them up if you're curious or confused. short explanations are provided for more confusing songs (original titles are provided, as some songs/lyrics only show up under those names) - don't like? don't look. if you don't like what i have to say you don't have to say anything about it. just smile and scroll

Chiaki Nanami binaria - not just recommending them because they wrote the DR3: Despair Arc opening, but because their music is legitimately super good and it somewhat reminds me of her laid-back sweet personality song(s) to try - 火星のアーカイブ (Mars Archive), 双糸 (Twin Threads) other assorted songs - きゅうくらりん (kyukurarin), パレットには君がいっぱい (My Palette is Full of You) (rest easy, siinamota), 幸せになれる隠しコマンドがあるらしい (There's Supposed to Be a Cheat Code for Happiness), うに (Uni)

Nagito Komaeda Megumi Ogata - i know she's his CV... her music is just so, so good and fitting. no matter how hard i try i CANNOT unhear nagito.  song(s) to try - 再生-rebuild-, 残桜-zanka-, poison -劇薬- The Hoosiers - no comment i cant explain this one. wanted to put this for hajime too song(s) to try - Who Said Anything (About Falling In Love)?, Runs In The Family other assorted songs - Under My Skin, ヒトガワリ (Substitute)

Hajime Hinata Foster the People - this is definitely more of a "music i feel like they'd listen to." but to each their own. song(s) to try - Ask Yourself, Nobody's Favourite (Foster The People rework) (i should just link the entire Supermodel album here lol) other assorted songs - Friend's Apartment, A Sadness Runs Through Him

Ryota Mitarai 実験台モルモット (jikkendaimarmot) - although their songs don't have english translations (its difficult to even find the original lyrics) the overall vibe of their music makes me think of him song(s) to try - 100万回死んだぼく (I've Died 100 Times), リストカッター (Wrist Cutter) (shockingly, the latter is not about s/h. lyrics here, but i believe it's about coming to terms with living in hopes of a better future even if you truly want to die.) 全てあなたの所為です(It's All Your Fault/subeteanatanoseidesu) - their music is very vague and ambiguous. it's mostly just the vibes for this one song(s) to try - エヌ (N), . (it's just a dot) (i believe . about experiencing unexpected events in life, and whenever you try to see the good in them, they end up causing you more pain [ie. getting water from a usually empty container, only for it to taste too sweet]) other assorted songs - 輪廻転生 (Reincarnation), ドーピングダンス (Doping Dance), The Saddest Story Ever Told

Celestia Ludenberg Lana Del Rey -  BEFORE YOU BEAT ME TO DEATH hear me out… some of her songs really have that "femme fatale who pulls evil shit to get what she wants" vibe song(s) to try - National Anthem (Demo 1), Lolita (Demo) other assorted songs - Pyrite Girl, Girl Anachronism, Candle Queen

Kyoko Kirigiri x0o0x_ - whatever genre they make I WANT IT. their music is calming and makes you want to cry at the same time, yet some songs make you wanna scream the lyrics and stand ominously in the wind… it's just so unique song(s) to try - '''''', ====== (most songs have no titles, so i'm using the ones from their spotify) other assorted songs - The Downfall of a Well Known Actress

Junko Enoshima MARETU - the theme of his music is so… despair-inducing. you can imagine an edit of her with any one of his songs song(s) to try - マエガミスト (Maegamist), うまれるまえは (Born before) (maegamist is about turning a blind eye to other people's/society's problems, isolating yourself and leaving them to struggle alone. but this is just my interpretation) 和田たけあき (WadatakeakiP/KurageP) - cant explain this one… trust me song(s) to try - チュルリラ・チュルリラ・ダッダッダ！(Chururira Chururira Daddadda!), トラッシュ・アンド・トラッシュ！(Trash and Trash!) (chururira is about using other people's "bad" actions against them (no matter how small) to spread harmful rumors/snitch on them until you're the only "good" one) other assorted songs - Breaking Things Into Pieces, 食事 (EAT) (my interpretation of EAT is consuming everything you can, but never being satisfied)

hope yall can hear me out on some of these have fun happy listening

if i get any reblogs "correcting" me saying a fictional 4-person rhythm game group wrote and produced any of these songs im deleting my fucking account (iykyk)

[kmhnsecretexchange]

Title: Just as the sun rises, we’ll meet again

Author: Hipster71elmWeebtrash (1queer-bookworm on tumblr)

For: shinakiham_soup

Pairings/Characters: Hajime Hinata, Nagito Komaeda, Hajime Hinata x Nagito Komaeda

Rating/Warnings: General, no warnings.

Prompt: Fanfic: DR3 despair arc - what-if scenario detailing how Komaeda and Hinata could’ve met in a version of despair arc where Chiaki doesn’t exist

Author’s notes: Here you go! I chose your what-if alternate meeting scenario and may have taken some liberties…it became a little bit more like a meet-cute. But I hope you like it anyway, it was a very fun prompt to play with!

It is an odd time of day: the early hours of the morning.

While it is true that the night has its grasp on the body, burdening the limbs and clouding the head. Thoughts then gain the tendency to sink, allowing the gravity of them to linger and rake over every inch of oneself: leaving only the bright and buoyant to remain unnoticed. This is but a fraction of its grandeur.

For, once the weight of midnight has been thoroughly dusted off and the phantom of dawn is imposed onto the gloomy canvas of the sky: all is well and truly tranquil. At such a time, it’s likely for one to witness those billions of static lights dim as they’re steadily eclipsed by the rise of the glorious sun and its all-consuming brilliance.

And as humanity is wont to do, most miss it all. Catching but a glimpse of what it means to see all fall into despondency, then ascend with the silent constant that accompanies all light.

If one were to witness it as Komaeda has, then perhaps they might genuinely understand the true power of Hope.

-read more line-

Yet, even this despairful fact can be momentarily eclipsed by a stroke of fortune.

One such, is the enviable reality that the academy’s library is open at all hours of the day, allowing Komaeda to have the odd pleasant morning.

This, admittedly, wasn’t the prettiest daybreak. The sky was a firm wall of somber storm clouds that both hid any hint of light and threatened to rain at a moment’s notice. A perfect recipe for the typical melancholic day, the scent of petrichor at one’s doorstep, the chill of a dim sky and the inability to know for certain if the sun had ever risen at all.

It was all for the best, really, although it may superficially appear as a stroke of bad luck. For, Komaeda could have the reassurance that his misfortune could harm no-one but himself, the nonsensical hour and daunting sky detering all reasonable people.

If it were the middle of the day, the simple task of both stepping outside and entering the library would’ve surely wrought disaster. He can picture the dismay as the sunny skies are swallowed by a great wave of cumulonimbus clouds and the panic as the shelves rattled.

Though, nevermind the hypothetical dooms, Komaeda had been given a book recommendation and he was determined to find it. 

It was a collection of papers by a fairly modern astronomer: Nevermind had described it as both a rewarding and engaging read. A suggestion he was inclined to pursue.

Komaeda could admit that his urge was in part duty and curiosity. He wasn’t well-read in matters of physics or cosmologie as it hadn’t been an interest of his Father’s and thus, the closest approximation to it on the shelves of his home had been philosophical texts. 

That all meant that the words of the book’s title meant very little to him, presently. And there was, of course, no staff present that could aid him. As such Komaeda was left with nothing but a title and a vague sense of an author with which to comb the hundreds of shelves.

His dedication eventually leads to a touch of luck, the book appearing in the corner of his left eye, exactly at eye-level. It’s a tome, rather, wrapped in an emerald leather binding and its font appearing a tasteful copper.

Komaeda reaches towards it mindlessly, his body twisting to follow the movement purely as an afterthought and as his fingers graze the spine- his hand jolts as it collides with something notably softer than leather.

There is the briefest moment in which his hand lingers on the spine, his ring finger brushing right against the other’s index and their hands remain still. Another’s hand, just as bruised and just as unsteady and yet- sturdier, calluses and the odd speck of dirt under their alarmingly uneven nails. Nothing but the distant sound of the rumbling sky that often preceded thunder to prove that time hadn’t simply- stopped.

Then, their eyes meet. 

And Komaeda is immediately struck with the thought that this is an idiot.

An idiot with handsome green eyes. An idiot with tousled dark hair, short bangs thrown askew. An idiot who didn’t sleep well -if at all- and was hardly ever awake enough to take notice of the violet under his eyes. An idiot who lacked any sense and threw himself into conflict, seen by the scabs on his chin and the mottling bruise the size of a fist, on his cheek. An idiot who didn’t dress for the weather and left the house in a suit…A black suit. A familiar black suit.

…an idiot reserve course student.

Komaeda quickly snatches the book, slapping the reserve’s greedy hand away in the process.

“Hey- what the hell!” The idiot cradles his hand and has the gall to look offended. “I need that for class!”

“Well, you can’t expect me to really believe that a reserve course student could deserve this more than an Ultimate, someone with the capacity to actually create Hope in the world.” Komaeda answers smartly. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me-” The reserve’s frown forms easily, anger seeping into every crease of his face in an instant. “You’re so full of yourself it’s absurd! You don’t even have a reason! I actually need this book and you just-” He flounders. “Want it!”

Without so much as the decency to surrender his turn to speak, the fool continues with an air of mockery. “And what’s your talent anyway? The Ultimate Astronomer? Oh yeah, I remember now, you’re the luck guy. Well I don’t know how reading Burnell’s observations could help with that” He then stupidly adds, “or hope. So if you think I’m just going to stand here and let you-”

“You reserve course students are nothing but a plague, taking resource after resource without thought-”

“Oh, right.” The reserve interrupts him callously. “The people who actually pay to be here have no right to use anything on Campus-!”

Komaeda scoffs. “How small minded of you, it really is typical of a reserve course student to consider only the selfish option- no thought of sharing or relinquishing it to its rightful-”

 “Well,” The reserve mutters, his eyes widened by the mere thought. “I-I guess we could share it…”

Any and all of Komaeda’s ire is swept away with a single exhale, the reserve’s offer registering in his mind. “…I suppose we could, theoretically, both use it…” Komaeda relents, pressured by the fragile sense of sincerity that occupied the meager space between them. Although he can’t quite muster the ability to imagine what he’s proposing. “…simultaneously.”

The reserve course student simply stares at him in response, his eyes occasionally lowering to the book he supposedly requires. Komaeda breaks the silence. “You do know what simultaneously means, or do I have to explain that to you?” 

The frown is back. “How stupid do you think-” He stops himself and takes a deep breath, his -admittedly dapper- suit rising and falling in sync with the motion. “Okay, sure. That-that works. I shouldn’t need it for more than a few hours, anyway.”

Komaeda, still with a firm grip on the hulky book, starts towards the library’s common area and the reserve course student easily falls into step beside him. Neither rushing or meandering.

Komaeda ventures to ask, the tables not yet in sight. “What exactly do you need this for anyhow…you…” He meets the boy’s eyes, “I wouldn’t have guessed that astronomy would be a hot commodity for people like you.”

“It’s Hinata to you,” He quips, then he begins blabbering on. “And well, if you really want to know, this is for my astronomy thesis. I wanted to reference the initial notes made on the pulsar and compare it to the language used in today’s observational astronomy, maybe cite a few passages if it fits with my outline.”

Hinata then proceeds to give an entire spiel on what Komaeda can only rationalize as the death of stars and the telescopes, using far too many terms without relinquishing their definitions and presumedly with the assumption that Komaeda was well-versed in the subject already.

Hinata finishes with a dramatic sweep of the hands. “This is one of the only copies in the world with Burnell’s actual, unedited thoughts on the whole thing! Even the very first recorded use of the term pulsar! I couldn’t not include it!”

There’s an unmistakable passion underlying his rant, an earnestness that not even his unpleasant attitude could mask. It was clear in the faint flush of his sole pale cheek; the way his pace had started to match his as he’d lost himself in exuberant explanation.

 “So…” Komaeda averts his eyes. “you’re looking to become a researcher?”

There was something agonizing about that image. The image of this boy  -just as brash and just as stubborn-, poring over calculations, agonizing over theories, and spending his nights peering into the night sky through a million lenses. All just for a chance at uncovering the truths of the universe and giving humanity a fighting chance in the unending struggle for purpose.

…an image void of hope (as any featuring a reserve course student would) and yet, inexplicably brimming with it.

Hinata then grows uncharacteristically quiet, his previous enthusiasm suddenly dashed, until at last he says. “…I don’t think I’ve got much of a chance at that…it’s one thing to like the class and another to-”

Hinata stops, sheepishness giving way to a dawning optimism. “Well, I guess I could be, now, in a sense…” He shakes his head. “Whatever, even if it’s a hard class, that’s no reason not to try your best and try to have a little fun with it.”

Then predictably making far too many assumptions, Hinata asks. “What’s so weird about it? Do you Ultimates not write papers?”

“Well of course they do! Ultimate Students are constantly conducting research for the betterment of the world!”

“I don’t need the sermon- it was a rhetorical question you know.”

Komaeda huffs at the pitiful excuse. “Regardless of your intentions, to have the sheer audacity to imply that the Ultimate students could neglect their duties and stoop to a virtue as hopeless as sloth! You forget yourself and- your place!” Hinata’s scowl returns with a vengeance. “Although I don’t necessarily have first hand experience-”

 “Wait, you haven’t written a paper? Not even a memoir- I heard that was all the rage on your side of things!” 

“Well,” Komaeda sputters. “why exactly would anyone write about something as worthless as me?”

“You said your talent was luck, right? Who wouldn’t- of course I’d want to read about that! The fact that you can actually quantify your luck enough to call it a talent is interesting enough.” And he’d seemed so certain of that fact, that Komaeda was forced to agree, although he’d have argued that it wouldn’t be educational or worthwhile, if that were relevant. 

Once the two of them arrive at the muster of tables, Komeada finds himself strangely content with allowing Hinata to pick two chairs and unwilling to voice any protest when they find that to properly share it they must sit chair to chair, thigh to thigh.

Thus, the morning begins not with sunlight, but with the faint glow of the chandeliers overhead and the counterfeit warmth of fingers nearing just enough to turn a page. The hours creep up until it’s nearly time for classes to begin for the day, leaving no room for any further procrastination. 

Just as they’re about to part ways, however, just as Komaeda opens the door- it is only then that it begins to pour. Not the pathetic trickle of hours ago, but a true downpour that could easily drown a rat. Not the kind of rain that either of them could properly see in, nor escape without irremediably drenching every inch of clothing.

There’s a moment in which they both look at one another and realize that neither of them have an umbrella. Komaeda closes the door.

Hinata starts, glancing between him and the entrance. “So…I guess we’ve got to make a run for it…”

 “Well, at least the journey isn’t very far at all.”

Hinata’s expression shares nothing but melancholy. “It’s a ten minute walk. For me…”

“Oh…right.” Luckily, at that very moment there’s a crash and a decent sized umbrella rolls to Komaeda’s feet.

 “Huh, that’s convenient…” Hinata hesitantly suggests, tripping over his words. “I guess we should probably- I mean…” 

“That would be…logical…” 

And so…they do. They walk into the rain, side by side, under an umbrella that happens to be just the right size to shelter them both if they walk exactly shoulder to shoulder. Hinata’s forearm is strangely warm and if Komaeda were to turn his head, he might brush his cheek.

Then, not a minute into the journey, he hears Hinata’s voice. “…I think we will see each other again.”

Suddenly, Komaeda feels terribly self-conscious about the terrible weather. “Hopefully in better circumstances.”

 “Oh, it will be. Everything will be better.”