Danganronpa/D4DJ One-Shots

Bad Luck, Bad Self-Esteem, Bad Mood (A Trinity Most Unholy)

"Ohhhh... Sorry I'm such a worthless, useless search-partner!" Saori lamented, wringing her hands as she trailed timidly after Hajime.

"D-don't worry about it," Hajime chuckled awkwardly. He'd been waiting on Chiaki as usual, but instead of the Ultimate Gamer, it was the Ultimate Calligraphist that bumped into him on the courtyard bench (almost literally). She was in such a frantic haze trying to find her missing cat—Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg—that she didn't even see the bench in front of her until she ran smack into it, and by proxy, the boy sitting on it.

"Ow! Hey!" At first, Hajime was furious, assuming he was being bullied for being a Reserve Course student. His fears were not assuaged when he jerked his head around to see a girl with short, bright, purple hair staring at him with wide, blue eyes. Yep. Definitely an Ultimate. With a hair color and a dramatic expression like that? She twiddled her thumbs, stuttering and sputtering embarrassed, awkward apologies.

"I've got the worst luck, and it's not even my Talent! Even animals know better than to hang around me for too long..." Saori sighed and wilted. Despite himself, Hajime felt just a bit of sympathy for her, if only because she was so pitiful. In the end, he even offered to help her look for her missing cat. It would at least kill time until Chiaki finally arrived.

"R-really?" Saori almost gasped in disbelief, wide eyes widening even more. "Do I deserve such help when I'm so embarrassingly stupid?"

"L-let's... just get started," Hajime had chuckled awkwardly, but in time, even he had to agree that Saori seemed to have a natural way with bad luck. Not only did they not find her cat (who was actually someone else's cat that a friend, who was supposed to be pet-sitting, suddenly dumped on her, but little Ludenberg was a terror and made Saori's life miserable before running away), they saw no cats anywhere on campus at all!

"The universe just hates me!" Saori declared with certainty and a sigh, hugging herself self-consciously. "Not that I blame it..."

By then, some of Hajime's sympathy was a strange mix of mild annoyance and amusement. I think you're being just a little dramatic about it...

There was someone she reminded him of, and that someone was currently roaming another part of Hope's Peak's campus ground...

"Ah! How truly lucky I am, for you to even acknowledge my pathetic existence!" Nagito was in ecstasies, arms open and palms up as he gasped, rambling to the orange-haired girl beside him who asked him to aid her in her quest of and for Hope! It was an honor he was unworthy of.

"But we're both fellow Ultimates, y'know?" Rika asked, confused. As theatric as she could be, Nagito always took it to a whole other level.

As far as Rika was concerned, it all boiled down to luck. Good luck that she got to pet-sit a really cute, fat cat belonging to a really cute, goth girl. Bad luck that she forgot she had an exam that day, had to leave the cat in the care of a friend, and now could not find either of them. To tip the scales, Rika spontaneously decided that she had to recruit the nearest Ultimate Luck to aid her in her search, and that just happened be Nagito Komaeda, second-year Ultimate, one year her junior. It really all was just fate, luck, and chance in Rika's mind.

Now I gotta find that cat before the owner burns me alive! Rika had a private laugh to herself as she dragged Nagito all over Hope's Peak by the hand, either oblivious to—or uncaring of—all the stares she was garnering. Nagito, meanwhile, was just happy to be along for the ride.

Maybe Lady Luck DOES favor me sometimes...! He smiled serenely as his arm was slowly pulled out of its socket by a hyper, human puppy.

But after long enough, Rika sighed. She did not mean for Nagito to hear, but with a rueful smile, he said, "I deeply regret that I am unable to control my Talent to better serve you and your Hope! I'm so inept and weak that I'm the worst Ultimate that there ever was! Why, I'm barely even a rung above Reserve Course! I'm sorry you had to waste your time and sully yourself with my presence. I should've warned you what a mess I always manage to make of everything! It's my stupid, useless, worthless Talent, which is exactly as annoying, nonfunctional, and pathetic as me."

"Aww, don't say that," said Rika without thinking, finally turning a more compassionate eye on her "hunting partner". "I wasn't mad at you, or anyone, really. Luck can't be controlled! That's what makes it luck! Random chance! Yeah, we can try to predict it, but ultimately, it's out of our hands, so all we can do is our best and trust that life, fate, and the universe will do the rest!" Her kind smile became confident and proud, and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. Even if spending the day with Nagito didn't go the way she hoped, oh well! That was just luck for you!

"It's still at work," she said sagely, "just not in my favor. But that doesn't mean—"

"Rika?!"

Rika whipped around, gasped, and somehow, her smile and eyes became even wider and brighter. "Saori!"

"Nagito?!" Hajime choked, the name leaving his lips before his brain had a chance to even try to catch up.

"Hajime!" Nagito smiled languidly at the other boy. When Saori noticed that Nagito and Rika were holding hands, she flinched visibly.

"Don't tell me you're going to let that go to your head, of all things?" Hajime scoffed quietly, thoughtlessly, and Saori flinched again, his words coming off far harsher than he meant them. He was trying to tell Saori not to put too much stock in Nagito, as his luck often made it such that his actions seldom made sense without a lot of context, but Hajime's words were gruff, and Saori took them guiltily.

"Bullying a girl?" Nagito raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Not cool, Hajime." His tone was patronizing and cold.

"N-no, it's ok, don't worry about me..." Saori sighed, hugged herself, and looked down while Hajime stuttered and sputtered apologies, alternating between waving his hands frantically at her and scowling at Nagito. "I'm sure I was interfering with your Talent anyway..." she continued forlornly. "I'm definitely not worth worrying for... Sorry for being a bother and an inconvenience! Ugh, I'm embarrassed how much trouble I can be...!"

"Not at all!" Nagito smiled, laughed genially, and waved his hands good-naturedly. Hajime's outraged face went deadpan. "I'm just honored that you know me or my Talent at all, y'know? I'm like the Ultimate Loser, after all," he continued conversationally, matter-of-factly.

"Of course!" Saori replied. "Your Talent is so much more useful than mine..." She sighed. "If anyone's the Ultimate Loser, it's me!"

"I disagree!" Nagito replied. "I'm such a waste that when I hear about a missing cat, my luck acts up and I find a not-missing human!"

"Well, that's just how luck works!" Saori unwittingly echoed Rika. "Sometimes it's supposed to be bad, to balance out the good! But me? All I can do is paint stuff with ink and a brush." The Ultimate Calligraphist sighed self-consciously yet again.

"On the contrary," said Nagito, still smiling beatifically, "your Talent is a noble art! When well-written, your poetry can inspire Hope in all who—!"

Hajime's eye twitched. Oh my God... they're going to go back and forth all day, aren't they...?

Rika only smiled and shook her head, hands on her hips. Well, lookie what I found! Bad luck, bad self-esteem, and bad mood! A trinity most unholy!

Maybe Hajime was comparing Saori to Nagito, but Rika could sense something very Saori in Hajime, and a rush of fondness was already washing over her for the younger boy. Before she could cheerfully cut in and break the steadily-rising tension, though—

"RRRREEEEOOOOWWWW!" An angry yowl. Saori and Rika heaved twin sighs of relief. Then, Rika turned to Nagito.

"Thanks for your luck!" she grinned, and in one fluid motion, she dropped his hand and scooped up Saori's. Saori only had time to note how soft and warm Rika's hand was after holding Nagito's before she was practically ripped off her feet and away from Hajime and Nagito.

Hajime could only look back and forth between them and Nagito, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. Were Ultimates always so extra?

Nagito smiled and waved as Rika and Saori ran away together. While he firmly believed that he didn't deserve even a fraction of the fun he'd had that day, he could not deny that it was all a blast either way. Maybe his luck wasn't so bad after all!

AN: In honor of the Saori/Rika, Mikan/Junko, Sophia/Neo I once wrote, I wanted to do a Saori/Rika, Nagito/Hajime too.