Despair: Become Hope // komahina

Chapter 07 : Bus

"Yes, I heard a gunshot from my neighbour's house," a young woman with short green hair said into the phone, trying to remain calm. A muffled voice from the other line asked her more questions, to which the lady responded. "Yes. Yes, of course. In the morning? Yeah, that's fine."

"Which house is it, Miss...?" The dispatcher on the other line asked.

"Kirumi Tojo," she replied. "It's house 28, on 5th street in Hanamura," she said. The woman nodded and said a few more things before muttering a "Thank you" and hanging up. She sighed as she placed her cellphone on the counter. Two teens looked at her in concern, though one of them seemed to look more unfazed.

"T-Tojo-san, what happened?" The teen wearing a cap asked.

"Yeah, Mom. What happened?" The other teen wearing a checkered scarf asked.

The woman sighed in distress as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "First off, you guys can just call me Kirumi," she started, "and for the last time, Kokichi, stop calling me Mom." The purple-head flashed a playful grin, which annoyed the lady even more.

"Second, everything is okay," Kirumi told them reassuringly. "I've called the police and they said they'll come inspect the house next door tomorrow in the morning. I just hope nothing bad happened to our neighbors." The two boys nodded in response, taking in the information she just said.

A brief silence loomed over the awkward atmosphere.

"Well," Kirumi clapped her hands, "let's not think about that, shall we? What would you guys like to eat?" She flashed a small smile, trying to lighten up the mood. Which seemed to work since she saw their eyes sparkle.

"Anything is fine, Kirumi-san," Shuichi said.

"I want eggs!" Kokichi beamed.

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Amidst the heavy rain pouring outside, two men exited the house and hastily darted towards the bus stop just outside to avoid getting too wet under the rain. Right on time, the last bus for the night pulled up at the stop, and they got onto it.

The bus was automated, so there wasn't a driver there, much to no one's surprise.

One of the men, a lanky male with white hair, looked out the window. His eyes glued onto the worn down house he once lived in for the past two years, as it drifted away when the bus began moving.

Hajime looked down to the ground with a dead look. He still couldn't get the image of Junko's corpse lying on the ground, the feeling of her blood drip onto his uniform from the gunshot wound he gave her. He was android, but now he had deviated and defied his programming, he was feeling many different emotions for the first time.

Way too many, at once. 

If it wasn't for the beanie Hajime was wearing to hide his LED, it would be switching rapidly between red and yellow. His pump regulator was functioning irregularly, and he could feel thirium course through his artificial veins like mad.

Nagito could see the emotional conflict in his dead eyes, and so he grabbed the android's hand.

Hajime looked up and made eye contact with the albino.

They exchanged no words at all, yet their eyes spoke everything they wanted to say. Crimson stared deep into swirling green. With those pained yet calm green eyes, Hajime felt his pump regulator return to its normal state, and his LED ring flickered back to cyan, even though no one could see it underneath his beanie.

After staring at each for a good ten seconds, Nagito was the first to look away, mustering a fake cough.

The rain from outside had made the windows all misty, making the streetlights from outside look like blurs of light whizzing past them. And just like those blurred lights, Nagito's consciousness slowly began to blur and his eyes began to droop.

"Get some rest," Hajime advised to him. "You're gonna need it."

"Y-You're not gonna sleep?" Nagito questioned, though after it saying it aloud it sounded like a pretty dumb question. Hajime shook his head before removing his beanie and pointing towards his LED ring. "While I don't need to sleep, us androids do go into Sleep Mode to conserve energy and power," Hajime explained, an awkward smile on his face. "So, I am gonna sleep, but not in the same way you do."

Nagito made an 'o' shape with his mouth before it widened and he let out a yawn.

He closed his eyes, muttering a soft "Good night" before drifting off to sleep. It was lights out for him immediately, since not long after that the android could hear soft snoring from him. Nagito's unconscious self bumped against the android when the bus jerked up, causing his head to slip and lean against Hajime's shoulder. Not that the AX400 minded much anyway.

Hajime smiled at the sight of Nagito's peaceful expression when he was asleep.

He looked so peaceful, and so serene.

The android slipped on his beanie, making sure to cover his LED ring and closed his eyes. The last thing he saw in his vision was his objective in bold letters. "Protect Nagito."

And just like that, Hajime entered Sleep Mode.