Despair: Become Hope // komahina

Chapter 02 : A Drive "Home"

"Get in the car, Hajime," said Komaeda as he unlocked the door of his second-hand Toyota. It still baffles most people till today as to how there could be anyone owning and driving a car that old in an era where autonomous vehicles could be seen everywhere.

The pale man couldn't care less.

"Are we going anywhere, Komaeda?" The android asked, slipping into the passenger seat next to Komaeda. He let out a short sigh and looked at the tan skinned AX400. "Well, I'm just gonna send you home because I still have to get back to work," he explained. "Plus, my girlfriend needs looking after at home," the albino chuckled, quickly cutting it short when Hajime looked at him blankly.

"I see," the android nodded.

"Well then," Komaeda coughed to break the awkwardness, "I guess we should be going now."

The car started up, and Komaeda drove out of the city on the way back to what he so called "home".

The android looked out the window, observing the view outside. Buildings tall and grand whizzed by as the car moved. Hajime saw people— humans and androids— getting around the bustling city of Tokyo. People were dressed in thick clothing to fend themselves against the cold weather, while some were wearing bleak clothes and left on the streets to freeze.

A poor homeless man was seen on the streets, holding a cardboard sign that read "Androids stole my job".

The LED ring on Hajime's temple flickered to concerning yellow for a brief moment before reverting back to its usual cyan glow.

Komaeda couldn't stand the awkward silence between him and the android anymore, so he decided to initiate a conversation with it. "Ahem," he fake-coughed, grabbing the android's attention.

"Yes, Komaeda. Is everyone alright?" Hajime turned towards him, his brow lifting in a concerned manner.

"Y-Yeah, everything's alright," the albino bit his lip. Crap, now this feels even more awkward.

"So uhm, anyway," he continued, "do you remember anything? Y'know, my full name? The fact I live with my girlfriend? Anything?" Komaeda wanted to slap himself. That was such a stupid question. Of course he wouldn't remember anything. He was reset, for God's sake!

"No, Komaeda," Hajime shook his head. "I was reset during my repairs, wasn't I?"

"O-Of course! I almost forgot!" The albino let out a nervous laugh.

"My full name's Nagito Komaeda, and I live with my girlfriend Junko Enoshima," he introduced himself, though it sounded weird for him, considering the android had already been living with him till it got broken two weeks ago.

The reason behind that... Nagito wished he could just forget it.

"Ah, but you can call me Nagito or Ko, if you want!" He beamed. Hajime's lack of reaction dampened his spirits, but then again, who could blame him? Hajime was an android, after all. An obedient machine meant to follow orders whether they liked it or not.

"If it is alright, I'll call you Nagito from now on?" Hajime asked. The albino nodded in response, a small spark of happiness inside him.

Even though Hajime was an android at the very core, if it wasn't for his LED ring, Nagito would've been fully convinced he was just another human. It was one of the features of an android: it looked human. Sometimes, too human.

And even if Nagito had to constantly remind himself that he was talking to an android, he spoke to him as if Hajime wasn't one. As if he were a friend he could go to for letting out his pent up feelings. As if Hajime was a human, just like him.

"So this Junko," Hajime spoke, making Nagito perk his head up towards him. "How is she like? Is she friendly? Is she a nice person?" He asked out of curiosity, possibly part of his program's protocol to know everything about his owner.

Nagito looked away, staring down at the driving wheel.

She's none of those, Nagito would've replied.

She's stupid, manipulative, a pain in the ass. She's a thot that I wish could burn in he—

"Ah, we're here," Nagito's train of thought broke as he saw his house on the street. Unlike those in the city, the houses beyond that were bleak and bland, the neighborhood mostly consisting of worn down one-story houses that needed desperate renovations.

Children could be seen running across the uneven sidewalks, playing a game of tag as they stepped over the bricks of concrete that buckled underneath their feet.

The sky was a depressing shade of grey, the clouds turning dark signaling it was going to rain soon.

"I've gotta get back to work now, so you just stay here and help around the house, okay?" Nagito said to the android as he got of of the car as instructed by the albino. The android shot a reassuring smile at him. "Yes, Nagito," Hajime said simply before closing the car door and walking up to the house.

He turned around and gave a small wave at the albino before entering the house.

Nagito couldn't shake off this warm feeling in his chest, but it quickly disappeared when he checked the time on his phone. "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late for work!" He cursed, driving out of the little neighborhood in a rush, hoping that he wouldn't be late.

Hajime turned the doorknob and pushed it open, a faint putrid smell lingering across the room.

There on the stained brown sofa was a young woman with her light pink hair in two messy pigtails switched through the many channels on the TV. Her head perked up as she paused the television. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she got up from her seat and walked towards the android.

"Ugh, about time you've finally gotten fixed," she glared at Hajime as if he were trash. Hajime simply stood there idly, his blank crimson eyes staring down at her.

"Is there anything you'd like me to do, Junko?" He questioned.

"Just, uh," Junko motioned to the entire room. Empty pizza boxes laid on the ground with dirt and dust evident on the wooden floor, as well as a bunch of stains of which Hajime didn't know the cause of. "Yeah, you do the cleaning, yada yada," Junko blabbered in a mocking tone.

"You can start from washing the dishes," she pointed a pedicured finger towards the entrance to the kitchen. "Got that, tin can?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, Junko," Hajime stated blankly.