♡𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 [Komahina]♡ [CHECK DES]

Chapter Twenty-Two

【Ｎａｇｉｔｏ＇ｓ　Ｐｏｖ】

I stared in confusion as Ibuki presented the strange item to me.

Apparently the "super-duper-really-fucking-radical-supreme-mega-cool" idea she had was to make a double-sided ukelele with a clacker attached to the bottom.

"Seeeee Clover-chan? Ibuki's a total genius!! I'm so excited about this Ibuki might just die!" The rockstar was hopping from pure excitement and overflow of energy.

"Yes...I do see... How would this even work?" I frowned at the...thing. It was two ukuleles cut in half and hot glued together, with a clacker also hot glued onto the bottom as an amazing cherry on top.

"Like this! Duh!" She started playing it, turning it every other note to play the otherside, all while shaking it around to use the clacker which was also hitting the ukulele.

"Ibuki-! If you keep being so violent with it you'll-" I was stopped mid-sentence with a loud snap, causing me to flinch and go to cover my ears. As expected, the poorly glued ukulele broke and the clackers left it tied onto Ibuki's arm.

"...Fuck." She cursed before untying it from her wrist. I sighed before putting a hand in my face in disappointment.

"Well now whaaaat." She slumped over dramatically and frowned.

"Well now... How about you hang out with Kazuichi? He could probably help you with making a new one. I have someone I want to check on actually." I placed a hand on my chin.

"Really? Who? Is it your booooyyyfriend?" She leaned in to me.

"...Yes?" I answered.

"Oooookayy. Well you gave a good point when you said I should ask Kazzy for help... Sooo Ibuki's gonna do that! Good luck with...checking on Hajime I guess!" Ibuki skipped over to her door and opened it, continuing to skip out.

I headed out of Ibuki's cottage taking a quick glance around the island. I figured Hajime would be at the hospital, taking yesterday's operation into account. I made my way to the third island's bridge.

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★Time skip brought to you by my lack of knowing what else to say here★

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I opened the glass doors to the hospital, it was still the same way it was back in the simulation. I looked over at the staircase to see Hajime on his way down.

"Ah, Hajime! I thought you would be here. Checking on Hiyoko?" I asked. He had a slight frown on his face.

"No, Chiaki." He answered blankly.

"Chiaki? Did the procedure work then?" I had a delighted tone.

"Y-yes. It did." He replied before walking away.

"That was..." I whispered to myself before walking up the stairs myself to the room that Hiyoko...well...Chiaki should now be in apparently.

I walked up to presumably Chiaki's room, since the door said it was. I opened it to see a girl with blonde hair with a slight curl. She turned to me with devoid golden eyes. This was...not Chiaki. Her voice didn't exactly sound like her either.

"Nagito?" She asked, her voice had an odd emptiness to it. It did come from a previously dead person after all, so I don't know what I was expecting. I walked over to her bed, looking at her with confusion.

"Chiaki? You sound like Hiyoko..." I asked.

"Yeah...I'm Chiaki. Why are you here?" Her eyebrows furrowed a bit.

"I came to check on Hajime. He told me that you were here." I put my hand on the edge of her bed, "I wanted to ask, are you okay?" I asked her with a voice of worry.

"Oh I'm...fine I guess." She looked away as she said this, breaking eye contact.

"Hmm. I see then. Well, how's being alive again I suppose?" She had a look of discomfort before answering.

"It's okay...I think. I don't exactly like the circumstances, though." She responded.

"What do you mean?" I was confused about what being brought back from the dead could be bad. From experience I thought it wasn't my worst event. Though, events in my life tend to be terrible.

"For one, I think that Hiyoko being replaced by me isn't right. Two, the real me is still dead. I'm not sure that Hajime is understanding that. At least not rightly." She frowned again while talking about this. She brought up a good point.

"That's a good point I suppose." I answered.

"I also worry about the others." She added. I tilted my head a bit in confusion.

"I mean...won't they have moved on by now? I don't think me being back will help with that." She sounded a bit sad by this.

"That...makes sense. But wouldn't it be great, though? The former-ultimate gamer, and late-friend to us all is back! Isn't that just amazing? The hope you'll bring-!" I raised my voice and wrapped my arms around myself. Chiaki really was a true beacon of hope, wasn't she?

"Nagito..I don't really care about that. And...I don't think so either. Besides, I'm going to be here in the hospital for a long time. Probably." She had a bored expression. I took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I...see. I'm sure since Hajime possesses Izuru's luck you'll be out in no time! Also, I'm very happy about you being back myself." I tried to reassure her.

"...For the hope you think I'll bring...or me?" She asked.

I was left speechless. Of course I was glad she was back. But...I did gain quite the reputation of being indifferent towards anything but hope. It's not like it was exactly wrong. But I did want to try and work on that.

"I'm glad that you're back for...both reasons." She didn't seem very content with my answer, deciding not to say anything, instead turning away from me. I probably said something I shouldn't have...not surprised. I'm horrible at social interaction and it's painfully obvious.

"I'm glad to have seen you, I suppose." I gave a small wave before turning around to head for the door.

"Same to you too, I guess." She said before I went on my way back to Hajime and I's cottage.

Perhaps even with all the talent in the world, Hajime's made quite an oversight.