~ Forgotten ~【Komahina】

Chapter 10 - Silence

Hajime Pov

The trial is over, and I've just lost another one of my friends. That is, if you could count Mikan as a friend... The Mikan I knew wasn't the real one. I had just seen the real her, and it was... scary... That Mikan is the Mikan who killed two people, the Mikan who took two innocent lives, the Mikan who is obsessed with despair.

(I wrote Mikan so many times it doesn't sound like a word anymore-)

I notice Nagito staring at me, and turn away. Chiaki looks at me weirdly, before walking over to him and beginning to talk quietly so I can't hear. I feel like something happened when I had the Despair Disease... Or maybe even beforehand... I can't remember anything since the second motive, and I can only just remember Peko trying to kill Mahiru... Nagito was with me then... Why?

I wince as pain shoots through my head. I guess losing a massive chunk of memories is bound to give me headaches...

'I'm going to head back to my cottage now...' I say to the remaining people standing around Monokuma rock. To my surprise, Chiaki glares at me and grabs Nagito's hand, pulling him back towards the cottages.

What..?

Why does it... hurt... seeing them holding hands...?

It's nothing.

I walk back to my cottage silently.

Chiaki Pov

'STUPID!'

I barely snap like this, but Hajime's stupidity has pushed me off the edge.

'Stupid stupid stupid STUPID!'

I kick my wall in anger.

'O-Ouch...' I stutter, stumbling backwards, towards my bed.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm down, before hearing a knock on my door.

'Come in,' I mutter, sitting down on my bed. The door slowly opens to reveal Sonia, who was looking slightly worried.

'Um, Chiaki, are you okay?' she says, 'I heard you shouting...'

I giggle sadly. 'It's... nothing... I was just letting out some anger, I guess!'

'This isn't like you,' says Sonia, taking a step towards me, 'Is this something to do with Hajime?'

'Well,' I sigh, 'I know it isn't his fault but... Have you noticed how down Nagito has been since the trial a week ago? He's not left his cottage... I'm getting worried about him...'

'Well, maybe we should go and check on him! That's what friends do, right?'

'Yeah,' I say, smiling, 'Let's go!'

We walk towards Nagito's cottage together, before knocking on the door.

No answer.

'Nagito...?' I say uneasily.

No answer.

'Nagito, are you in there?' Sonia asks. I could hear the nervousness in her voice.

No answer.

'If you don't answer right now, I'm kicking down this door!' I shout, banging the door with my fist.

No answer.

'NAGITO!' I scream, trying to force open the locked door. No, not like this! It can't be over! It can't!

No matter how hard I try, the door won't budge.

I turn my head to see a group of people running towards us. Fuyuhiko, Peko, Akane and... Hajime...

I run towards Hajime and slap his face. 'Whatever has happened to Nagito is your fault!' I shout, feeling tears run down my face.

I can tell that everyone is surprised about my outburst, but... that doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is opening this door!

'Akane, open the door!' commands Sonia. Akane obliges, ramming her body into it.

'WAAAIIIITT!'

I look to see Monomi standing behind me. 'Don't break the door!' she shouts, 'It's a violation of a rule! If you break it, you'll get punished!'

'We wouldn't want anyone to die.' interjects Fuyuhiko, 'So you open the door. You are our teacher after all.'

Monomi nods and pulls a key out of nowhere, before unlocking the door.

I take a deep breath before stepping into the cottage.

Empty

I take a deep breath. At least there isn't a dead body in here...

'Puhuhu!'

Monokuma appears in the cottage. As I was about to speak, I get interrupted by Fuyuhiko.

'What's with your stupid ass enterance? Your stupid little puhuhu laugh, then appearing out of nowhere. At least change it up once in a while!'

Monokuma sighs sadly. 'Fine, no puhuhu... How about a kehehe? Or maybe a little nee-hehe!'

'No "Nee-hehe!"', Sonia says angrily, 'In my kingdom, there is a fabled supreme leader who looks rather like a grape, is very short, and laughs with a Nee-hehe! He lies so often, if you were to meet him, you'd never know if what he is saying is true!'

'Fine,' Monokuma says, 'No puhuhu or nee-hehe... I'll have to think of a new laugh... Anyways, time to tell you what I came here for! You're probably wondering where Nagito is, right? Well, I had a last minute change of motive! I originally was going to lock you all in a funhouse until either you starved to death, or someone got killed, but I thought someone would die faster if I just locked Nagito in there!'

My eyes widen. 'Does that mean you'll keep him inside until...'

'No no no,' Monokuma interrupts, 'I'm just keeping him there until he completes the Final Dead Room!'

'Final... Dead Room?' Hajime mutters curiously.

'Nyeh, I'm not going to tell you what it is,' says Monokuma, putting on a weird voice, 'It's too much of a pain... Now I'm going to use my magic to make Nagito appear!'

Monokuma throws a handful of dust in the air before running away.

'What the-' Fuyuhiko starts to speak, but he suddenly stops and looks behind him. I look in the same direction to see-

'Nagito!' I say, running towards him. He smiles at me, but stops as the rest of the group walk over. His gaze shifts to Hajime, before walking towards him.

And then Nagito slaps his face. Hard.

'Ah-' Hajime winces, 'What was-'

Nagito laughs. Not his gentle chuckle he's been doing a lot more recently. A laugh... filled with hope and despair... A laugh... like the one from the first trial...

'Ahahaha!' he laughs. His expression suddenly goes serious. 'Talentless scum... I can't believe I wasted my time on you. I can't believe I ever loved you.'

Hajime's eyes widen. 'Wha- Talentless...? Love...? Nagito what do you-' he begins, but Nagito was already walking away.

Silence.

All eyes were either on Hajime or the shrinking figure of Nagito, walking towards the beach.

What's gotten into him?