Marigolds In The Wind

9.

After the trial, the first thing Hajime did was look for Nagito. He knew that Nagito didn't know much so he was pretty quiet, but at the same time, he was quieter than normal. Hajime saw Nagito once he left Monokuma rock, who was already walking away. Hajime picked up his pace a little, trying to catch up with him.

"Nagito...!" Hajime almost had to run because of how fast Nagito was walking.

Nagito stopped dead in his tracks after hearing Hajime, before turning his head, "hm?"

"Could we walk for a bit maybe?" Hajime asked.

"Uh... sure" Nagito nodded, letting Hajime come up beside him.

Hajime began to walk with Nagito back towards the hotel, though his hands kept fidgeting. He didn't know what to do with them. He was going to lift his hand to Nagito's back to comfort him, as Nagito still seemed to be a little shaken. But he pulled his hand away out of nerves. After they arrived to the hotel ground, Hajime went to the porch of his cottage and sat down, beckoning Nagito over.

Once Nagito was sat down, Hajime looked to him, "is everything ok...?"

"What do you mean?" Nagito leaned on his hands, "I'm pretty good"

"It's ok to be upset about Ibuki-"

"It's fine you don't have to worry about it" Nagito cut Hajime off.

This pretty much proved Hajime's concerns. Nagito wasn't usually that snappy, and Hajime wanted to help.

Hajime gently reached over, taking Nagito's hand, "if you're upset it's ok... I know it's not always a pleasant feeling, but sometimes you gotta let it out, yknow?"

Hajime wasn't really the best at comforter, but he was trying his best.

Nagito looked up to Hajime, before sighing, "yeah, I guess I am a little upset... like I said, the last time something like this happened it was my parents..."

Hajime scooted a little closer to Nagito, gently hugging him, "is there anything I can do...? Do you need to cry or anything?"

"No... but... this is nice..." Nagito said softly.

"Do you want to talk at all?" Hajime asked, rubbing Nagito's back. Then he remembered about the two of them in the hospital, "actually... could I ask you something?"

Nagito looked up and to Hajime, "sure, what is it?"

"Well when we were talking in the hospital, I asked you whether or not you've been sick or hurt at all before you went to Hope's Peak" Hajime said.

"Oh yeah, well... technically I'm still sick" Nagito said, "well it's terminal, but I hope my luck is on my side"

"What?" Hajime's eyes widened a little, "oh, Nagito... I'm sorry to hear about that... but is it ok if I ask about it?"

"Yeah it's fine" Nagito smiled a little, "the doctors diagnosed me with both advanced lymphoma and frontotemporal dementia before I was accepted into Hope's Peak... so really as we speak, my brain is slowly deteriorating... it's kinda cool, but maybe not so great on my part"

Hajime was shocked, this was pretty heavy and Nagito just seemed to brush it off, "it's... cool...?"

"Yeah, I mean heck, even if I end up dying at an early age at least I'm ready" Nagito said, "no one would really miss me, so it's no big deal"

"Ah- I'd miss you!" Hajime pulled away from their hug, "but we did meet in the past... but why didn't I recognize you...?"

"Oh, well I guess I've changed a bit since I got diagnosed..." Nagito said, "my hair used to be a light brown, I've gotten quite a bit paler and I've lost a ton of weight, so we might've met early in my treatment"