nagito komaeda (on the nintendo ds) x redacted

what the hell is wrong with him

Redacted didn't think she had ever been as upset to be in a situation before this moment. Upset wasn't really the right word, but at the same time pure, unbridled rage didn't quite cut it either, so it was instead somewhere in the middle, residing between a moderately annoyed and extremely inconvenienced. She sipped an orange juice box as angrily as one could and tuned back in to Nagito.

"So, if everything goes like how i'd hope it to, you will be joining my class!"

  ...Shit. Maybe I should've listened to him? ...Just kidding! Wow Redacted you're hilarious!

  Nagito turned to stare at Redacted once again, for an uncomfortable period of time. She looked off to the side. Her friends had left a while back, leaving her on her own with no choice but to hang around Nagito Komaeda. Redacted had figured out his last name earlier, when a short angry boy went up to him, yelled about something and left. Redacted tuned out during the whole scene, but she did overhear the boy saying 'you're such a bastard, Komaeda' which she assumed was most likely his name. She looked back at Nagito again. Why the hell was he still staring?

"So... am I allowed to go home now?" she asked, fairly confident in the fact that Nagito would say yes, and she would go home and forget literally everything that happened.

  Nagito laughed. It was a gross laugh. The lightness of the tone seemed to contrast so well with how condescending it felt toward her, and it sucked. "You're funny, Redacted! Just how I remember you."

  This day had just been one new experience after another. Newest experience! Being called funny and getting offended. Usually for Redacted, getting called funny was quite a compliment- but with Nagito, everything seemed vaguely worse.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really not know what I mean? Weird. I would expect someone like you to understand," Nagito placed an unwelcome hand on her shoulder. Does this guy know what personal space is? She looked up at him, unhappy with everything about the situation. From the weirdly phrased sentences which made compliments seem like insults and vice versa, leaving Redacted with no way to tell what he could even mean, to the uncomfortable aura that being in a 10 metre radius of him gave you- everything was just piling up in each other which made her want to go home even more. "anyway, i'd be glad to explain the situation again. I'll be showing you around the school this evening- think of it as an orientation to this school. Considering you may be moving into the dorms within the next two months, it's important that someone as special as you doesn't get lost."

  How does every question he answers only give me even more questions?

"What do you mean by special?"

  Nagito placed his other hand on her shoulder, quite literally forcing her to meet eyes with him. Perhaps this was a good time to mention that Redacted didn't particularly like being touched by people she didn't like. Nagito fell very cleanly into the section of 'people Redacted doesn't like', but despite her discomfort, she wasn't going to tell him to stop. Maybe having to stay up till what felt like midnight had made her too empty on the inside to care. She had been drained of her energy a long time ago and Nagito was talking to the visual personification of a phone that was out of battery.

"You're special, Redacted-"

"Yes I am. Thanks."

"...you're much more special than you even realise. That's why Hope's Peak is carrying out this project. If we unlock all of your potential, who knows what hope that will inspire in the rest of us?"

"Why me?"

"You'd have the ability to handle it. We need someone who isn't just special in one area, but them all! And that person will be you. I do admit," he chuckled to himself. "I did play a role in choosing you as the candidate, but I can't help it when you inspired so much hope in me!"

Nagito had a way of always being slightly off. In their childhood- while smart and a good student- no one else would ever play with him. He sat with Redacted and her group of friend's for a little while, but Redacted left that friend group to jump to another. Redacted searched through these memories, trying to find where she could've 'inspired hope' in Nagito. She thought really heavily about the situation. Then she forgot about it.

"...Right. Uh- but my parents will probably worry-"

"Don't worry about your parents, either! They've been notified. All you need to do is follow me as I guide you around the school."

Nagito let go of Redacted's shoulders after what felt like an eternity. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, and turned to look at him. Nagito smiled.

"Let's get going. The sooner we finish this, the sooner you get to getting to attend Hope's Peak Academy!"

Redacted nodded and smiled as wide as she could. Which wasn't very wide, considering the circumstances. She reluctantly let Nagito lead her into the school.