Despair: Become Hope // komahina

Chapter 10 : Now

A/N: This ended up being much longer than I expected it to be, so I decided to split this chapter into two instead uwu

I really had fun writing this chapter in particular because I get to mention some major plotpoints in the story ;)

Be sure to leave a comment and vote! Hope you enjoy the story uwu

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"Fujisaki, update me on regarding the recent deviancy cases."

The ginger head nodded timidly as he reached into his bag. He took out his tablet and searched through files until he clicked on a certain one, various images of the deviants at question popping up followed by a bunch of links to news articles and much more.

"Three cases involving deviated androids have happened this month," he stated as he clicked on a link to a news article with the headline 'Client strangled to death by WR600 in Aiyoku Club'. "Two of those cases took place in Aiyoku Club in Akihabara, the second case taking place exactly two weeks after the first one."

"I'm assuming both androids were WR600 models, correct?" A tall man looked away from the window overlooking the city, his crimson eyes piercing through the petite man amongst the strands of his long jet black hair. Nervousness began to crawl on the shorter male's back before he continue.

"Y-Yes," Fujisaki nodded.

A brief silence loomed over the large empty conference room.

"What about the third case, Fujisaki?"

Blood ran cold as the ginger head froze like a deer in headlights.

"Is something the matter?" The tall man question.

"... This case happened in a small neighborhood just outside of Tokyo, sir," Fujisaki cleared his throat and continued. "An AX400 android deviated and killed its owner's girlfriend before running away with him. And according to recent investigations, this particular android is the same one from four years ago that—"

The man in black turned to face the shorter male, cutting off his sentence just by the former's piercing gaze.

"M-Mr. Kamukura, what should we do?" Fujisaki finally asked. "This could damage the company's reputation, and change the public's opinion of Cyberlife. I-I just..."

"Make sure the police clear up those first two cases as soon as possible," he then turned his back towards the shorter male. "As for the third one..."

Fujisaki could see a smirk forming on Kamukura's face from the reflection on the glass window.

"Let's just see what will happen, shall we?"

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"... Shit," Hajime cursed in frustration.

As if on cue, Nagito stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in his dried clothes from last night. He looked at the android in concern. "Hajime, are you okay?" He asked him.

The android was silent, feeling his stress levels increase to 46%.

"... I-I was watching the news," Hajime finally opened his mouth to speak. "The police are looking for us, and it's only a matter of time before we could possibly get caught."

Nagito's eyes went blank as he comprehended the information he heard.

"... What are we going to do?" The albino muttered before sitting down on the bed.

"Nothing good ever happens to me. And even then, something bad would always follow by to mess up all that's good." A new emotion— despair, was it?— swirled in his eyes as he cradled his head in his hands. His mouth crooked between a smile and a frown, unsure of which expression he was trying to do exactly.

"Maybe you should just leave me be," Nagito then looked up at Hajime. "Besides, they're looking for you, not me. Trash like me would only be there to drag you down. I'd probably just be an unnecessary burden to you."

"Do you have any family or friends you can contact for help? Anyone you know that could help us?" The android questioned, clinging onto whatever hope he had in hopes a solution would surface.

"My parents died a long time ago. And I never made the effort to make any friends."

Hajime's gaze softened as he grabbed Nagito's cheeks and pulling his face closer, making the albino look straight into his eyes.

"Ko, you are not and never will be a burden that'll only drag me down," Hajime stated in a blunt tone. "Did I promise you that I'll never leave your side last night? Because that's exactly what I'm going to, whether you like it or not."

"Also, stop calling yourself trash," the android added. "You're a human, Ko."

A light chuckle erupted from the albino, his green eyes lighting up. "You sure?"

"I may be a deviant, but I can't bring myself to break a promise, now can I?"

"Heh, that's true." Despite the cheeriness in his voice, Nagito's smile faltered and his gaze fell to the ground once more.

"Ko, listen to me," Hajime grabbed the albino's face once again and forced him to look at him. "We can't change the past, but we can decide the future." Nagito could feel his cheeks warm up, but he was too focused on the android's words to bother about it.

"Once we get through this, this will be nothing more than just a bad memory."

Nagito closed his eyes and let out a sigh. His smile finally returned again. "Okay," he laughed softly. Hajime let go of the albino's face and patted his back in reassurance. The android grabbed his brown coat off the hanging stand and put on his beanie.

Instead of using it to cover up his LED ring— which he had removed earlier on— he wore it simply to make himself look more human. The clothes he borrowed from the albino and his new look created the illusion of a normal young man in the cold weather of Tokyo.

"I'm gonna go out and find something for you to eat, okay?" The android said, about to reach for the door. Nagito pouted in response, pulling a small frown which made him see like a sad puppy. Hajime couldn't help but feel amused at the sight of the frowning male. It made him look... cute.

"I won't take long. There's a convenience store nearby."

"Hajime, I'm 22. Let me come with you."

"No," the android insisted. "I want you to get as much rest as possible. We have a long day ahead of us."

"But it's already 10—"

"I'll be back!" The android ignored the albino's pleas to come with him, exiting the motel room and closing the door behind him. A playful grin displayed on his lips before walking away from the door. As he was grabbed the rusted railing of the metal staircase and about to go down to the ground, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

A few police cars were parked on the street near the motel check-in shack. Policemen were getting inside said shack, possibly to interrogate the old woman running the motel inside.

"Hello ma'am," a cop spoke, holding out a small notepad with a pen. "Have you seen any... strange people lately?" He questioned.

The old lady shook her head in response. "Not really. There was this odd young man who came in here last night with his friend. He sounded off, but he was a nice one."

"Does that man look like this?" The cop whipped out a photo of Hajime, or to be more specific, an AX400 android model.

Hajime's thirium ran cold as he body froze in place.

"Oh no," he mumbled.

Hastily, he darted back into his room, swinging the door open with a loud bang, startling the albino inside.

"H-Hajime? What's going o—" Before Nagito could even finish his sentence, his olive green jacket was thrown into his face and he was dragged out of the room by the frantic AX400.

"We need to get out of here. Now," Hajime bluntly said.