Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 63: Friend In Me.

Beautiful Morning - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

"Huh..." Makoto said quietly, "I didn't know Chiak-Uh-!? Nanami-senpai liked those kinds of things. I don't expect that from her..."

"Believe me," Nagito Komaeda replied, "had I not been paying such close attention to her while she was playing her games in class, I wouldn't have realized either."

"And she doesn't mind you watching her while she plays?" Makoto asked, "If I were in her position, having someone leaning over my shoulder watching my screen while I play just feels kind of pressurizing..."

"I felt the same way actually, but she assured me it was fine," Nagito said, "besides, "leaning over the shoulder" is a bit much. We just happened to be sitting next to each other that day. Though it's interesting..."

"What is?" Makoto asked.

"Well, recently, Nanami-san's been a lot more...social...than normal," Nagito noted, "not to say she wasn't kind and endearing before today, but for a while now, she's always liked to keep to herself. She hasn't been doing that anymore though...I wonder why...?"

Makoto knew the reason why but couldn't tell Nagito what was really going on. It was all personal stuff, after all. Unfortunately, Nagito seemed to notice his expression change slightly as he dwelled on it.

"Naegi-kun?" he asked, "Are you ok? Are you feeling sick?"

"Huh?" Makoto raised his eyebrows, "No, not at all. Why?"

"I see...then it's okay. I thought you pulled a strange face just now," Nagito explained, "I thought something was worrying you..."

"I'm alright," Makoto assured him, "to be honest, I spoke with Nanami-senpai not too long ago. If you ask me, she seems pretty worried that she might not be able to hang out with her friends as often as she does now after you guys graduate. She seems very grateful to have you guys in her life, you know?"

"I see...I didn't think such things were troubling her, but now you say that, it makes sense," Nagito sighed, "I don't think I've done anything to deserve her thanks. But...for someone like me to be useful to her, and to even receive her words of gratitude...makes me happy."

"Komaeda, I don't mean to state the obvious," Makoto scratched his face, "but I think you're being too hard on yourself."

"Sorry to make you feel downtrodden, Naegi-kun, but I've always been like this. I mean...my talent is just having good luck. It's not like it comes from hard work, and it's not like I can use it to do anything amazing. You of all people can understand that, I'm sure," Nagito told him, chuckling, "Regardless of how lucky I am, or if that luck even exists, I'm just too unimpressive to truly matter. Haha, unlike you and the rest of the Ultimates."

Makoto couldn't help but notice Nagito seemed uncannily happy when he said this, despite the pain of his words.

"You know we have the same Ultimate Talent, right?" Makoto said, "We had a big, long-winded conversation about the similarities between us the last time we had a one-on-one talk, didn't we? With that logic, I'm just as meaningless as you."

"Not so!" Nagito asserted, "The difference between you and me is that there's far more to your abilities than there is to mine! The Sports Day was more than enough proof of that!"

"Doubtful. I'm about as run of the mill as every other guy next to me," Makoto shook his head, "Let's test this though. Say I told you I was an Ultimate Student, but I didn't tell you what my talent was. Take one good look at me, and what would your guess be?"

"Hm..." Nagito dwelled on this concept for a moment, "What about the Ultimate Telephone Pole?"

"What the FUCK does that mean!?" Makoto spat, not bothering to hide his profanity in the face of Nagito's absolutely ridiculous suggestion.