Masked Hope (Nagito x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 1: Strange Atmosphere (Daily Life Part 1)

". . .Hajime?" I called out. He flinched and looked and me with scared eyes. "S-Sorry if I scared you!. . .Are you alright?"

His fear quickly changed to relief as he recognized me. "Y-Yeah. . . I'm fine. How's your arm?"

"Mikan did a great job, I barely feel a thing!" I praised. "I guess there's a reason she's the Ultimate Nurse."

"I'm glad. . ." His voice sounded hollow.

"Are you sure you're alright Hajime? You can talk to me, you know. . ." I reassured.

"It's just the stress, I guess. . ." He responded. "Thank you. . . for worrying about me, I mean."

"It's no problem at all, Hajime. I'm your friend. . . please don't forget that." I reminded.

"I won't," He promised. "The others are up in the restaurant if you were wondering."

"Alright, you'll be okay out here?"

"Yup, I'll be fine."

"Okay, goodnight, Hajime. . ." I waved as I entered the hotel lobby, seeing him wave back.

He looked exhausted. . . Then again, everyone probably is. As I climbed the stairs to the restaurant, I noticed that there wasn't any chatter coming from the area. It was silent. I stopped on the stairs for a moment, Did they go back to their cabins?. . . No, Hajime wouldn't lie. I kept going up and entered the restaurant. Most of them were still there, but they were sitting in chilling silence, all staring blankly.

There was a thick tension in the room, likely caused by the events at Jabberwock Park, but regardless, I froze at the top of the stairs. It was like hypnosis, once I saw them all, I just couldn't look away or move. Eventually, Nagito spotted me and pulled me from my trance.

"Y/N! You're alright!" He quickly walked over to me and almost hugged me. Almost. He stopped himself, backed away and raised his hands. "Sorry, you probably don't want trash like me to touch you. . ."

I ignored his comment and hugged him anyway, "Thank you for caring, Nagito. . ." I mumbled. I let go after a few moments and looked behind him at everyone else, unphased by our actions.

He noticed my staring and gave an explanation. "They've been like that for a while. . . Most of us came here after Jabberwock Park, but once we took a seat everyone just stayed silent. Even Akane and Ibuki. . ."

"Well, that isn't unexpected. . . but it's not good if they stay here all night either." I walked past him and to the middle of the restaurant. "Okay everyone, snap out of it!"

No response.

"I said, SNAP OUT OF IT!" I yelled. Some of them were taken aback by my sudden volume. Some even flinched. "Good. I know we're all shaken by Monokuma's. . . announcement. But I'd like to remind you all that we aren't being forced to kill each other."

"You're right, if we don't kill each other we'll die on this island." Kazuichi stated sarcastically.

"Oh? If I remember correctly, it was you who was most excited to be on this tropical island, Kazuichi," I recalled. "And none of you were concerned about the situation earlier of being brought to this island out of the blue. Remember what Monokuma said: If we do not expose the blackened during a class trial, everyone else dies and they go free. . . In other words, if you kill one person, you must kill everyone else to leave. Is that what we're prepared to do?"

"Of course not! That's insane!" Mahiru exclaimed.

"Exactly. So you all need to forget about the 'killing school trip' Monokuma proposed. He can't force us to kill each other, he said so himself. All we have to do is keep to the original rules and get along." I encouraged.

"I agree, Monokuma can't force us to do anything." Byakuya emphasized.

"Did you not see those giant mechs!?" Fuyuhiko reminded. "Those things had guns, machine guns. . .!"

"Rule #4 states that a teacher cannot directly interfere with the students unless they violate a rule." I read from my e-Handbook. "Monokuma hasn't altered this rule, so he can't break it either. As far as I'm concerned, he can intimedate us with those mechs as much as he wants, but if we don't break a rule, he can't use them."

"Have you forgotten about Monomi. . .?" Chiaki asked. "She didn't break any rules, but Monokuma still used those mechs to. . . give an example. . ."

"Monomi wasn't a student," I stated. "I miss her as much as you Chiaki, believe me. But Monokuma didn't break any rules. For now, I'm going to my cabin to get some sleep. . . I suggest you all do the same." I turned to leave and started descending the stairs.

"Y/N, wait!" I stopped on the stairs and turned to see Nagito following after me. "That was. . . amazing."

I felt my cheeks gain some colour as I gave him a warm smile, one I had to fake. "Thank you, Nagito. Is there something that you need?" I rested my hands on my skirt as we arrived in the lobby.

"N-No. . . There's nothing. I just wanted to walk you to your cabin." He explained.

"Oh. . ." I muttered. "Alright then, let's go."

We walked out to the pool, Hajime had left the bench, presumably to go to his cabin. Good, I thought. He deserves some sleep.

"Did you really mean what you said back there?" Nagito asked. "About following the original rules?"

Did I mean it? "I was just trying to. . . dissuade some of them. . ."

"Dissuade them? You can't seriously think any of them were considering it, can you?" He questioned.

"Well, I know some of them are capable." I acknowledged. "Take Fuyuhiko, when we were talking just now, he was more concerned of the Monobeasts forcing us, not so much about the killing in general. That speech I gave wasn't so much for inspiration as it was for self-preservation."

"So. . . It was all a lie?"

"Not entirely. Towards the end, it got more personal, but my original intention was, as I said, to disinterest anyone who had started thinking about it."

We walked the rest of the way in silence. As I walked up the steps of my cabin, I felt Nagito's hand around my wrist, stopping me.

"Do you really think someone here is. . . that desperate?" He asked.

"Honestly, I haven't been around anyone, safe for you and Hajime, long enough to know if they're capable of murder. . ." I answered. "Truthfully, I wouldn't be surprised if I was first to turn up. . ."

"Don't say that!" He shouted. I flinched at his volume. "Sorry. . . but please, don't think that way."

"Why not? Everyone here has some incredible talent that has the potential to be useful in a situation like this. . . What's useful about a doll. . .?"

"Y/N. . ." He loosened his grip on my wrist, which I took advantage of. I pulled my wrist away from him and opened my cabin door.

"Thank you for your concern Nagito, but I don't need your pity. I suggest you go to cabin and get some sleep while we all still can." I shut the door and put my back it, slowly sinking to the floor of my cabin.

Look at that. . . You're all alone again. I guess it's time for my nighttime dose.