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Chapter Text

Makoto nervously makes his way to the gym, trying his best to not bump into any of the other students. He was surprised to see this many people arrive here so quickly, especially since he arrived way earlier than he was supposed to. After all, he did bump into that girl when he went to go get a snack from the vending machine, and he went there minutes after he got there. Are there other classes having their entrance ceremonies at the same time? Is that a thing? Maybe it's just a Hope's Peak thing.

It has to be, based on how some of the students certainly don't look like they'd be his age. He wonders how big his graduating class is. He doesn't have to wonder for much longer, as he finally manages to find the doors to the gym. He glances at a nearby clock.

7:45am

Good, he's still on time.

Opening the gym doors, he discovers that his graduating class, is in fact, enormous. There has to be at least three thousand or so people here. Makoto's nerves from before skyrocket as he looks at the mass of students situated in chairs facing the stage.

There's two big sections of chairs, with a long strip of empty space separating them. Upon closer inspection though, the two sections seem to also be separated in two, with a muck skinnier strip of empty space separating them horizontally. He quickly spots an empty seat on the outer edges of one of the sections. He is way too intimidated to push past other students right now, so outer chair it is.

Makoto sits down next to a guy with black hair styled into a rather neat pompadour, and blue eyes. He's talking amicably to the guy next to him, who has short hair and twin scars running down his eyes and cheeks. They stop talking as soon as they notice him sit down.

"Hey!" The kid with the pompadour says.

Makoto tenses, drumming his fingers against his knee. "Ah, hello."

Cool Pompadour Guy, as Makoto has internally dubbed him, gives him an amused smile.

"And you might be?"

Makoto blinks. "Oh! My name's Naegi Makoto. It's nice to meet you!" He flushes, embarrassed that he didn't introduce himself sooner.

"Nice to meet you Naegi! The name's Higashi—"

"Wait, did you say Naegi?" A voice pipes up from the chair in front of Makoto.

Turning to look, Makoto's breath catches in his throat as he comes face to face with none other than Japan's Ultimate Pop Sensation, Maizono Sayaka.

She's absolutely beautiful, with long blue hair, and striking navy blue eyes that seem to sparkle in the gym's dim lighting. She's turned around in her chair, her hands resting on the back of it, and her eyes curiously gazing at him.

It takes Makoto a second to realize two things: the first is that he's been staring at the teen idol long enough to be noticeable, and the second is that she said his name, almost as if she recognized it.

Wait...does she...?

Makoto's face turns a dark shade of red. "Y-yeah! That's, um, that's me."

She beams, and Makoto swears his heart might beat right out of his chest.

"Ah, it seems you found a friend. Nice to meet you Naegi!" Cool Pompadour Guy looks at the teen idol and then at Makoto before winking at him and turning back to his friend.

"Heyyy, I remember you! We went to middle school together. Do you remember that? Oh, sorry, I should have introduced myself first. I'm Maizono Sayaka, it's nice to meet you again Naegi!"

Yep. That's it. Makoto's going to die, right here, right now.

He gives her a shy smile, heart thundering away in his chest, but luckily his blush had calmed down somewhat.

"Mhmm. I remember, you were in class 1-A, and I was in class 1-B. How did you remember me though?" Makoto laughs nervously, and he's certain that he looks like a love-struck fool, "I always wanted to talk to you but you were always surrounded by your friends, so I just never had the chance."

It's Maizono's turn to blush now, a light pink dusting across her face, and it's completely unfair that it looks so pretty on her. She rests her chin on her hands, trying to hide the blush.

"Oh man, I'm going to sound so weird for bringing this up. Um, do you remember when our classes were outside, and there was that bird stuck in the pond?"

Makoto brings his hand up to his chin, shuffling through his memories, desperately trying to not look like an idiot for not remembering.

Finally, the memory clicks into place.

"Oh! I remember, it was a crane! There was a crane in the middle of the pond."

Maizono lifts her head up and nods enthusiastically. "Yeah! And then you guided the crane out of the pond and back into the forest. I remember thinking that you were so cool for doing that."

Makoto chokes. "C-cool?" He murmmurs it again, so quietly that he knows she won't hear, and he can feel his blush from before coming back full force, this time reaching his ears.

Maizono continues, almost as if she hadn't noticed him acting like a little kid with an elementary school crush.

"Of course I thought you were cool! I mean, you were the only one who managed to make the crane actually move," she taps her lip thoughtfully, and the action doesn't help Makoto in the slightest.

"Besides, I...ah...thought it was really kind of you to try to help the bird. You didn't have to, after all, but you still did. That definitely counts as cool under my book."

She fixes him with a determined stare, almost daring him to say that she was wrong. Granted, it's not like he could argue with her, but still. The compliment makes him feel all warm and tingly.

He grins at her, giving her a breathless, "Thanks".

They talk some more after that, conversation flowing smoothly between the both of them. Maizono turns out to be really funny, much to his surprise. There are several times where he burst out into giggles after something she'd say. Granted, as soon as he started laughing, she joined in very quickly.

Their talking quickly died down as the lights dimmed even further, and a spotlight shined down on the podium positioned on the stage. The principal walked out, and the students began clapping. The entire time he talked though, Makoto found himself distracted by Maizono and their conversations.

After the ceremony was over, she slipped a piece of paper into his hand, and walked away to get her classroom number from the tables situated at the back of the gym.

Makoto unfolded the paper, and written on it was a phone number, accompanied by a smiley face.

We definitely need to keep talking more! My number is XXX-XXX-XXXX
—Sayaka Maizono :D

He smiles. Looks like his first year at Hope's Peak Academy is going to be much better than he thought.

---

Makoto sags in relief as he opens the doors to the music hall and spots Sayaka sitting at the piano. There's a tenseness to her shoulders that hasn't left since they closed all the exits and windows. It makes Makoto's heart twist in sympathy.

He sighs as Sayaka stays unmoving, her eyes boring holes into the piano keys. Slowly, he walks into the room and makes his way up to the stage. There's a deep-bone weariness to Sayaka's posture, like she's one step away from shattering.

Hesitantly, he sits down next to her on the piano, and just like he suspected, she barely reacts, her gaze still on the piano keys.

Makoto drums his fingers against his knees for a few seconds, trying to determine if Sayaka is close to having an anxiety attack. He knows that she gets very quiet before it happens, that her already fair skin turns deathly pale, that her eyes go glassy before widening in pure panic.

She's definitely quiet, but instead of her eyes being glassy and distant, they look...miserable. And something else too, but he has a hard time placing what it is.

He worries his lip between his teeth. He feels guilty for not being able to say anything to comfort her, his brain moving at a sluggish pace, and his words lodged in his throat. But Sayaka is a very touchy-feely person, and it only increases when she gets anxious. So he does the next best thing, and presses close to her, their shoulders brushing against each other.

She leans against him, the movement so tiny that he wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't already hyper aware of everything. His lips quirk up slightly, happy that he was able to offer some sort of comfort.

"Did you know that the first song my group wrote together was a lullaby?"

Sayaka's voice startles him. It sounds hoarse and raspy, like she had cried a few hours ago and hadn't spoken since then.

"...No. That's pretty cool," he says softly. And it is.

"Sometimes, when my anxiety would get really bad, I would sing it to myself to calm down."

Makoto lets out a little hum as a response, scooting closer to Sayaka.

A heavy sigh leaves her, her body wracking in response. She lets her head drop on his shoulder, and they stay like that for a bit, Makoto offering his comfort and Sayaka gratefully accepting.

"...Do you wanna hear it?"

His reply is immediate. "Of course."

Sayaka stills for a second, before lifting herself off of him. Her lips are twisted into a saddened smile, but it's a smile nonetheless.

She lifts her hands onto the piano, her fingertips barely touching the keys.

There's a brief silence, one where Makoto swears the entire world holds its breath, readying itself for Sayaka's lullaby.

And then, the musical hall is filled with the gentle sound of the piano.

It starts slowly and softly, all of it coming from the sweet high notes, sounding innocent and naïve, before rising higher and climbing down.

The melody bounces from the higher keys to the gentle timbre of the low keys, before repeating the movement. It's beautiful, but it sounds...empty. Likes it's missing something, but he can't quite put his finger on it.

Suddenly, something shifts, and he doesn't know if it's a key change or if it's just the way Sayaka is playing, but the notes steadily reach higher and higher, almost like it was longing for something, yearning for it.

There's the briefest of pauses, like the song reached a realization, and then the melody is climbing back down, and there's a bitter sweetness to it, and it ends with soft and slow flourish, before finishing with a single low note.

It takes Makoto a second to realize that Sayaka never sang. It takes him another second to realize that there are tears streaming down his face.

He throws his arms around her, and she clings to him like a magnet, a choked sound coming out of her throat.

She sobs into his shoulder, her arms winding themselves around his torso and holding tight. Makoto does his best to hold her, running his fingers through her hair.

"I-I'm so w-worried about them M-Makoto."
"I know."
"W-what if s-something bad h-happened to them?"

He grits his teeth. "I know nothing bad has happened to them. They're strong. Just like you. They can take care of themselves."

She sobs harder, and it's getting a bit harder to breathe, but he doesn't mind. How can he, when one of his best friends is going through so much suffering? Before he can think to himself if it's a good idea or not, he's humming the song Sayaka just played.

Her cries slow down a bit, and he can hear her chuckle wetly.

"Thanks Makoto." Her voice sounds wrecked beyond belief.

He hugs her tighter.

"H-hey, Makoto. Could you promise me something?"

"Anything," he says. And he means it. Hopes she can hear it in his voice.

Sayaka breaks away from Makoto to look at him, but her arms remain loosely around his waist, so he does the say, keeping his arms around her shoulders.

"Could you promise to help me make sure they're okay?"

He doesn't have to ask her who "they" are, fully knowing that she's talking about her band mates.

He smiles softly at her. "You didn't have to ask me that, you know. I was always planning on helping you. I know how much they mean to you, so I'll help you find them no matter what. I promise."

He fixes a determined stare at her. He'll do whatever it takes to aid Sayaka, anything to alleviate that horrible feeling of despair, of not knowing if your loved ones were safe or not, of not knowing if they were even alive. He'll do anything.

Sayaka sags in relief, a small but tired grin spreading across her face.

"No matter what?"

He gives her a firm nod. "No matter what."

And sure, maybe a small part of Makoto wishes that she'd say the same thing towards him about his own family, but that is neither here nor there.

He pushes that small feeling to the side. It's not important right now, what's important is making sure Sayaka feels better. As better as one can get in their situation.

He continues holding her, continues humming the song, and he can feel her breaths start to slow down until they reach a deep and steady rhythm.

She's fallen asleep.

So slowly that he isn't even sure if he's moving or not, Makoto presses a gentle kiss on Sayaka's forehead. She smiles in her sleep, and Makoto's heart warms.

He knows, deep down, that he really would do whatever it takes to help her. Strangely, the thought scares Makoto a bit more than he thinks it should.

After half an hour or so, she wakes up again. His arm is completely numb, and she apologizes, but he doesn't mind. They say goodnight to each other after that, and the entire time Makoto can't shake the feeling of his lips on Sayaka's forehead.

Chapter Text

Makoto restlessly paces around the empty entrance hall of Hope's Peak Academy. His entire body is jittery with nerves, and it was starting to frustrate him.

It's bad enough that he had been so worried about being late that he showed up a whole hour earlier than he was supposed to, but now with the added restlessness and dread he really is not having a fun time.

When he had first arrived at Hope's Peak and entered the entrance hall, he'd simply sat down against the wall and had decided to wait for more students to show up. That had been before he had begun to imagine the conversations he would have (probably) had to have when other people inevitably began showing up.

So now he was pacing around, contemplating exploring the school instead.

I mean...there isn't anything else to do. Might as well get used to the layout of the building.

With his mind made up, Makoto proceeds to exit the entrance hall and walks down into the main hallway of the first floor.

He explores every room that isn't locked, simply poking his head into the empty classrooms or stepping into the bathrooms briefly to look around.

Eventually he finds a vending machine, and his stomach rumbles to life. Ah. Right. In his rush to get to the school on time he had completely forgotten to eat breakfast. Damn. No wonder his stomach had been doing backflips since he got there.

Makoto mulls over the options in the vending machine before ultimately deciding on a simple pastry; something light enough to satisfy his hunger, but not too heavy that he'll want to throw up from nerves later on (because he just knows that he'll probably get to that point later today).

However, when he inserts his yen into the machine and picks the pastry, the spirally cargo splint stops midway, effectively stopping his pastry from dropping down.

Damn.

"Aw, come on!" He looks at the machine in despair.

He has got to have the shittiest luck in the world.

Makoto longingly stares at his pastry for another second before an idea pops into his head. He whips his head around, making sure nobody is watching.

He turns back to the machine, then rears his foot back before giving the side of it a solid whack!

Thankfully, his pastry falls out of the spiral and down into the pickup box. Guess he's lucky after all.

He grabs it and leans against the wall, happily opening it up and biting down into it. Mid-chew Makoto hears footsteps echoing down the hallway, steadily approaching closer.

His first instinct is to make a quick getaway, but he squashes it down. Makoto's too tired to try and avoid talking to new people now.

He looks to where the footsteps are coming from and sees a girl round the corner.

She's pale, a smattering of freckles across her cheeks, with pitch black hair framing her sharp face. She's tall too, and clearly athletic by the looks of it, her legs rippling with muscles if Makoto squints hard enough. She's dressed in a long sleeved white button up and a pleated black skirt. And to Makoto's utter dismay she appears to be walking straight towards him.

He quickly looks down before they can make eye contact. He stares at his shoes, slowly chewing on his pastry as he hears her footsteps stop near him. There's a beat of silence that Makoto is sure feels terribly awkward, so much so that he forces himself to look up.

The girl is standing in front of the vending machine. She looks at it for a second before inserting some yen into it. Makoto hears the whirring of the cargo splint unspiraling before it stops suddenly.

The girl blinks once before frowning deeply.

Ah. It must've jammed for her too.

"Did it get stuck?"

The girl turns to look at him, her gaze unreadable.

"Yes." Her voice is soft but oddly flat.

"Here, let me help. It got stuck for me too," Makoto smiles tightly at her, hoping it doesn't come across as awkward.

She steps back for him, and he makes quick work of kicking the machine again, grinning brightly as her can of soda falls down.

Silent, she reaches down to scoop out her soda, murmuring a quiet, "Thanks," when she straightens back up.

"No problem!" Makoto says. He hesitates, but quickly makes up his mind.

"What's uh...what's your name?" He asks.

The girl's head turns sharply, almost as if his question threw her off guard.

She's staring at him, her gaze so intense that it's starting to make Makoto regret talking to her. "...Ikusaba Mukuro."

"Ah, cool. I'm uh- Naegi. Naegi Makoto."

Ikusaba nods at him, clearly ending the conversation, and turns her attention back to her soda.

"So what's your talent?" Man, he really does not know when to shut up, huh.

Ikusaba pauses mid-sip. She fixes her eyes on him, a surprising amount of suspicion in her stare. Makoto winces; his question had clearly made her uncomfortable. Man, he really needs to learn when to shut up.

"...I'm the Ultimate Soldier," she says quietly.

Oh! Okay, maybe he wasn't that bad at small talk.

That's when he registers Ikusaba's words. "Wait, really? That's so cool, holy shit!"

He grins at her, a million different questions pressing up against the tip of his tongue, but he bites them down, not wanting to come across as annoying.

Ikusaba's eyes widen slightly at his words. Makoto stares in awe as a light dusting of pink blossoms on her face.

"Uh. Really? You aren't...scared or anything?"

Makoto scoffs. "What? Are you kidding? Why would I be scared? That's such a badass talent to have!" And it was! Truly!

Makoto wished he had a talent like that.

"Bad- badass? You think it's badass?" Ikusaba asks incredulously.

"Duh. I wish I had a talent like that. Mine's super lame. It's not even a real talent." He purses his lips before grinning at her.

Slowly, Ikusaba smiles tentatively. "Oh? What's your talent then?"

"The Ultimate 'Lucky Student'," he gestures some air quotes with his hands, "I won the lottery this year. You know, the one they draw every year from the pool of non-Ultimate students."

Makoto sighs wistfully. "So, yeah! I wish I had a talent like yours. That way I could be cool and special too. I'm just, ah, like...a boring old nobody. Average, you know?" He clamps his mouth shut before he can air out any more of his insecurities.

Makoto hadn't meant for the conversation to go down that road. He could feel his cheeks burning in embarrassment. He totally looks like a self-pitying weirdo now.

"No."

"Huh?"

Makoto tilts his head in confusion at Ikusaba. She looks weirdly heated by his words.

"You're not...you're not boring. Or a nobody," Ikusaba's voice is scarily intense, but it quickly softens out, "You're... you're really nice. And kind. Most people get scared when I tell them my talent. They uh- they're always afraid I'll snap and beat them up or something," Ikusaba looks down, avoiding Makoto's eyes.

"But you didn't. You're the first person I've met who thought my talent was cool. So...thanks. For that. It was really sweet of you." Ikusaba looks up to meet his gaze again, and she finally fully smiles at him.

"Oh! No- no problem? And thanks as well. For that. It was also sweet of you to say." Makoto let's out a soft laugh.

Suddenly, a shrill ringing pierces the air. Makoto startles, but Ikusaba barely even blinks. She takes out a phone from her pocket, and she frowns when she looks down at it.

"Sorry, my sister's calling me. I'll, uh. I'll see you around?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course! Bye!" He waves at her as she walks around the corner again, her footsteps getting fainter and fainter.

Makoto hopes they end up in the same class. Man, how lucky would he be, huh?

---

Makoto stares at the classroom's blackboard. Well... he's not actually staring. No, he's more so...looking in that direction. He's not actually staring at anything. He's just...lost in his thoughts. Letting his mind wander away from him.

They've been locked up in the school for a couple days now.

Makoto doesn't like thinking about it too much.

He...he has to be strong. For Sayaka. For Aoi and Toko. Kyoko and Byakuya too. All of his friends, really. He's lost track of how many times he's seen them cry. How many times he's overheard them breaking down.

So he can't. He can't think about their situation too hard. Because if he does, he'll break too. And he can't have that. Not right now.

Dimly, Makoto realizes his eyes are burning. He heaves a heavy sigh before scrubbing at his face. He shifts from where he's sitting (on top of a desk), and he brings his legs up, crossing them underneath him.

He yelps as the door swings open.

"Oh, shit. Sorry! I didn't know somebody was in here."

It's Mukuro. Makoto shakes his head slightly, shooting her a weak smile.

"Nah, it's fine. You can come in here if you want."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Mukuro nods before slowly entering the classroom. She makes her way over to him and sits on the desk next to him, looking up at the empty blackboard with him.

It's silent for a moment, but it's comfortable.

"So?" Mukuro, surprisingly, is the first one to break the silence.

"So," Makoto responds quietly, picking at his shoelaces. He knows where this conversation is going, and so he deflects, trying to buy some time before the inevitable question rears its ugly head.

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

At least Mukuro was kind enough to dress it up differently. Makoto would've probably torn his hair out if he heard one more person ask 'Are you okay?'

"Just thinking. About stuff. You know." Mukuro doesn't deserve such cold answers, but it's all Makoto can muster up at the moment.

"Mmm. Stuff. Nice." That actually gets a soft laugh out of him. Mukuro beams at him in return.

"Mhm. You should try thinking about it some time," he says, a matching grin on his face.

They settle down into another lull of quiet.

"Is it weird that I don't feel scared for myself?" Makoto's mouth moves before he can stop.

Rather than the shocked and horrified look he was expecting, Mukuro tilts her head in curiosity at him.

"What do you mean?" Her voice holds no judgement.

"Like... I'm more scared of something happening to my family or to you guys rather than something happening to me. You know?"

"So...what, you're not scared of like...dying or something?" Mukuro says, confused.

Makoto clicks his tongue. "Well, not exactly. I think."

Now Mukuro's face twists. "Wait, what do you mean you think?" She stares at him incredulously.

Makoto's face bursts into a bright blush. "I mean- Like, yes, I'm afraid of dying just as much as the next person, but...I also...sort of...don't? Care?? Ish???"

Mukuro looks even more dumbfounded now.

He scrambles for the right words, desperate to get his point across. "Like- like uh...I mean. What I mean, is that I am so...afraid...f-for the people that I love, that it kinda overshadows my own fears for my well-being,"

The more Makoto talks, the more mortified he's becoming, because wow, he did not wake up today and think 'Oh, y'know what I should do today? I should tell my friend my most personal thoughts, the ones that kind of scare me because I am certain that I should be more afraid of my death than the death of my loved ones!'

"Like...I am so scared of them being hurt that I kind of...forget...to be afraid for myself. If that makes sense," Makoto grits out the words.

This time the silence is not comfortable, not by a long shot.

"...You are something else, Makoto." Mukuro scoffs, then shakes her head in disbelief.

He raises his eyebrows at her. He didn't expect that answer.

"I get it," Mukuro elaborates, but then she pauses, "Well, actually I don't. I understand the whole, you know, 'not really worrying about yourself' thing,"

She waves her hands around. "But for me, I'm not worried about getting hurt because...well...you know. I can defend myself. Of course I'm not worried."

Makoto nods slowly, but he can tell she wants to say more. So he asks.

"But?"

"But the reason you're not worried is because you're so worried about your friends and family getting hurt that your own personal worries seem...miniscule...in the grand scheme of things."

Makoto sighs, relief crashing down on his shoulders. "Yeah. That's exactly how I feel," he chuckles weakly.

"Yeah, you see, that's the part I don't get."

Makoto blanches, his heart dropping so fast he thinks he might start to have a heart attack.

"Wait, no no, I- I don't mean it in a bad way! It's not bad," she waves her hands around again, trying to placate him, "I promise! It's... it's actually really inspiring, you know?"

"Inspiring?" Him? Naegi Makoto?? Inspiring???

Mukuro hums. "Yeah. You're a very selfless person Makoto. Not many people are like you. It's good. I...I really admire that in you, actually."

"Wait, really?" Now it's Makoto's turn to stare at her, completely and utterly dumbfounded. And yet. Something warm blossoms in his chest, curling up around his shoulders and down his back. Like a soft blanket.

"Yeah," Mukuro smiles at him, her voice gentle, "I wish I was more like you sometimes."

Makoto has to break his gaze away with her, Mukuro's praises becoming too much for him. He stares down bashfully at his shoes.

"I'm sorry."

Makoto looks back up at Mukuro in surprise. "Huh?"

"N-nothing. Nevermind. Here, I'll let you have some peace. Thanks...for the talk. And for being my friend." Mukuro's voice is tight with emotion, more than Makoto ever expected to hear from her.

Before he can ask her to stay, she gets up and starts to walk to the door.

"Uh, thanks too! F-for being my friend." Makoto calls out before she can fully get out the door.

Mukuro looks oddly...regretful when she turns back around to look at him. She smiles sadly at him, then leaves.

Chapter Text

When Makoto had first learned that he had won Hope's Peak Academy's lottery, an insurmountable amount of dread and anxiety had flooded him. How could Makoto ever think of being able to keep up with the Ultimates? To compete with them? He'd probably fade so quickly into the background he'd end up being kicked out. Or worse: he'd end up dropping out of his own volition.

If anything, his anxiety was the only 'Ultimate' thing about him. Clearly so, because unlike what he expected his school year to be like, he was doing just fine so far. Better than fine, actually! He had friends!! Multiple!!!

School had been in session for a few weeks now, and Makoto was still adjusting to being around so many new people, regardless of their gifts. All except for a couple people.

Firstly, there was Maizono, who he had quickly established a friendship with before school was officially in session. After she'd given him her number at the entrance ceremony, they had been texting practically non-stop. It was nice!

Really nice, actually. Makoto's heart always did tiny summersaults when he got a notification from his phone, his cheeks always turning pink when he realized it was a text from Maizono.

It was so so so nice actually having her as a friend at Hope's Peak. And yeah, sure, he might have a giant fat crush on her, but that was besides the point. He was just grateful to finally be friends with her.

Secondly, there was Ikusaba. Makoto had been absolutely delighted when he had walked into his homeroom on the first day of school and found her in his classroom. Well, their classroom, technically. But still! Both of them had arrived ridiculously early (what a surprise) and it had been nice catching up with her while they waited for the rest of their classmates to show up.

While his and Maizono's friendship was full of energy and enthusiasm, his friendship with Ikusaba was more calming and oddly philosophical. Makoto enjoyed how they could sit together in complete silence sometimes, just existing with each other.

Thirdly, there was Asahina, who Makoto had recently started talking to more and more. She was a lot like Maizono actually, but whereas Maizono came off as shy, Asahina came off as brash.

She was never afraid to speak her mind, and Makoto greatly enjoyed that. Especially when it got her into trouble and he got to sit on the sidelines and watch it go down. Asahina knew he enjoyed it too, always laughing with him afterwards.

So yeah. Makoto was doing fine. Great, even! But besides those three people, he wasn't actually really friends with anyone else in his class. Granted, he still memorized some of their names, so no duh he wasn't friends with some of them yet.

All of that reminiscing had brought Makoto back to the current situation on hand. That being someone suddenly tapping his shoulder as he rummages around in his locker before his first class.

Makoto startles at the contact, whipping around so fast he smacks his hand against the side of his locker. He bites down on his tongue to stop himself from yelling out, his face scrunching up in pain.

"Shit! Man, are you alright?!"

Now that Makoto is fully turned around, he's surprised to see that the person who had tapped him was none other than Kuwata Leon. Huh. That's...interesting.

Makoto shakes out the lingering pain in his hand and plasters on his most pleasant smile. "Aha, y-yeah. It's- I'm fine."

Belatedly, he wonders why Kuwata, of all people, had decided to talk to him today. Makoto isn't even sure they've had an actual conversation. He's certain they've only exchanged a couple words in passing so far.

"What, uh, what's up?" Makoto asks, turning back to his locker to grab his literature book. He tries to pick it up with his right hand, only for his hand to spasm painfully from the weight of it. He winces and grits his teeth. Well then. That's just lovely.

"You uh... you're friends with Maizono, right?" He hears Kuwata shift nervously from foot to foot.

"Uh-huh," Makoto says, too distracted to question Kuwata because trying to single-handedly shove his textbook into his backpack with his left hand is taking a lot more mental effort than he expected.

"Great! Uh, you guys...like...y'know..."

At last, Makoto manages to wrangle the book into his backpack. He zips it up and closes his locker, now fully able to give Kuwata his undivided attention. He rubs at his sore hand.

"I'm sorry, what did you ask again?" Makoto shoots him an apologetic smile.

Kuwata purses his lips, a bit of annoyance shining in his icy eyes. "I asked if you and Maizono were together."

Makoto's eyebrows shoot upward, his entire face rapidly heating up. "Wha- uhh, aha, n-no? We, um, we aren't together," he squeaks out.

Did...did people think they were dating? Shit, what if that made Maizono uncomfortable?? Did he need to stop being clingy with her??? Was he clingy? What if— Oh. Oh he's spiraling now. Isn't that nice.

Kuwata snaps Makoto out of his thoughts before he can spiral further.

"Oh! You aren't?" He looks genuinely surprised. There's also a hint of... something else in his expression, but it just confuses Makoto further. He shakes his head in confirmation again.

"Oh, okay. Cool." Kuwata nods at him, rocking back on the balls of his feet.

Makoto coughs awkwardly. "Was...was that all you wanted to ask or...?"

Now it's Kuwata's turn to blush. He looks embarrassed as he rubs the back of his neck. "Ah, shit, my bad. No, it's not it. I uh, I was just wondering, cuz I let Maizono borrow one of my textbooks the other day, but I need it back for today. And. Uh. As you know, she's not gonna be here today—"

Makoto squints up at him in confusion, getting more and more lost as Kuwata rambles on.

"—So, I was just wondering if you guys were...you know...together. Cuz if you were, then that would mean you had her phone number. And, y'know. I kinda need her phone number so I can ask her where she put—"

"Ooooh. That's what you were wondering. Okay! Yeah, I can totally give you her number," Makoto cuts Kuwata off before he can continue on because his hand was practically throbbing now and he really didn't want to stand there listening to Kuwata explain himself any longer.

"Here, pass me your phone." Makoto holds out his (good) hand, and Kuwata beams at him.

The red-head tugs out his phone from his back pocket and hands it to him. Makoto quickly enters Maizono's number into his contacts then hands Kuwata his phone back.

"Thanks man!"

"Yeah, no problem," Makoto says. Kuwata doesn't even bother to look up at him as he walks away, his thumbs already clacking against his phone's screen.

Makoto watches him disappear down the hallway. He rubs at his hand still, his knuckles bright red and his skin broken in some places.

That was easily the most painful experience he had had at Hope's Peak. Both the accidental hand-slamming and the conversation with Kuwata.

Why...why hadn't he just asked for Maizono's number? If Kuwata needed it to ask for his textbook back? He could've just started the conversation with that. Like, did he really have to ask if Makoto and Maizono were dating? Why go through so many mental hoops just to ask for Maizono's phone number—

Oh.

Oh.

Fuck.

---

"Dude, you don't understand. He looked pissed beyond belief. Like, like as if I had told him I murdered a man and not like I had just said I liked both."

Makoto's jaw drops, and he twists his head to look at Leon from his sprawled position over the bench. "No! Are you serious?!"

Leon nods furiously and he leans forward, his hands on his knees as he sits criss cross on the floor of the boys locker room.

"He was so fucking mad, dude! Kicked me out and everything. It was wild to witness. Thankfully, that was after I had been accepted at Hope's Peak, so I didn't have to worry too much about finding a place to stay."

"What about during summer break? Who'd you stay with? I imagine it wasn't with your dad," Makoto smiles crookedly.

"I just stayed at Mondo's. Lied and told him I got kicked out cuz I told my dad I didn't want to be a baseball player," Leon shrugs nonchalantly before breaking out into a mischievous grin.

"What about you, man? Ever come out to any of your family as bi? I know some of our other friends know about you too as well, right?"

Makoto bobs his head up and down. "Yeah, a handful of them know. You, Mondo, and Chihiro know, obviously,"

"Obviously," Leon mocks back, and Makoto rolls his eyes in amusement as Leon snickers.

"And Kyoko, Sayaka, and Aoi are the other ones. As for my family, only my sister knows." Makoto's heart pangs as he thinks about Komaru. God, he hopes she's okay, wherever she is.

Leon hums loudly, interrupting his train of thought. "So neither of your parents know?"

"Nope." Makoto turns back to gaze at the ceiling. His fingers drum against his stomach as he waits for his friend's response.

"How do you think they'd react? Think they'd freak like my dad?" Leon asks, genuine curiosity coloring his tone.

Makoto chews on his lip in thought. "Mmm, I don't know. I guess between the both of them, my dad would probably freak out more. But I'm not sure if he would get as pissed as your dad got. He'd probably just disown me and pretend I don't exist or something."

Makoto chuckles at the mental image his mind conjures up, one of him and his dad as he watches him start to pull off all the pictures featuring Makoto from the living room walls.

"To unsupportive dads. Or maybe unsupportive, in your case." Leon holds his fist out, and Makoto giggles as he bumps his hand against his fist.

Makoto settles back down on the bench, letting out a content sigh. He really needed this today. Just, casual conversations. No mention of the state of the outside world. No mention of how long they've been locked up now. Just normal, everyday conversations.

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Leon twiddling his thumbs, his lips pursed in thought. Eventually, his striking gray-blue eyes slide over to Makoto again, a question poised within them.

"Can I ask you a question?" Leon asks, his voice strangely hesitant. Almost as if he was anxious.

Sensing they were about to talk about something serious, Makoto swings himself up from the bench. He sits down on the floor across from Leon, their knees are almost touching.

"Of course," he responds, giving his friend his undivided attention.

Leon swallows, clearly nervous now.

"Take your time," Makoto says kindly. Leon grins at him, but it's a rather weak attempt.

The red-head takes a deep breath. "How...how did you come out to your friends? Like...how did you bring it up to them?"

Oh. That's what Leon was nervous about. Okay, Makoto could totally help him out here. Good. He liked helping his friends. He could do this.

He smiles at Leon. "Ah. Well...it's...It kind of varied for all of them, you know?"

Makoto taps his chin in thought. "Sayaka was the first person I told, mostly because she's one of my best friends, but also because I realized it was the perfect opportunity."

He finds himself smiling at the memory. "We went to a concert together, and the lead singer was a guy. A very cute guy I might add," Leon scoffs at that, his lips tugging upwards, "And Sayaka had mentioned it. So I said that I agreed. She seemed kinda surprised, and then asked me if I liked guys. That's when I told her I was bi."

"What'd she say?" Leon cocked his head to the side, his shoulders tensed up.

"She just smiled and said it was cool." What Makoto didn't mention was that Sayaka had said she was bisexual seconds after he did.

"Oh! Oh hell yeah. That's...that's good." Leon's shoulders sag in relief.

"Mhm! With Aoi it wasn't too difficult since she was dating Sakura. When she first told me she went on a date with her, I asked her if she was bi. She said yeah so I said 'me too'."

"Really?" Leon's expression slowly turns optimistic.

"Yep! And then, with like, Kyoko, for example, I sort of just took her to the side one day during study hall and just...told her."

"Just like that?" Leon asks hopefully.

"Just like that. It wasn't awkward or anything. All she did was nod and thank me for trusting her enough to tell her."

Leon leans back on his hands, his eyes bouncing around everywhere before landing on the floor. He's still got a nervous energy around him, but it's lessened significantly. Makoto let's the red-head collect his thoughts. Eventually a determined look crosses his face.

"Can you do me a favor, Makoto?"

"Anything," he says softly.

Leon looks at him again. "Promise me you'll push me into coming out to Mondo and Chihiro? After this whole thing blows over?"

Makoto frowns. "I mean, if you aren't ready, you don't have to..."

Leon shakes his head. "No, no, I know. But I do! Want to come out to them, that is. It's just...I just need a little push, is all. And I don't want to do it now. Not with...y'know," he says glumly.

Makoto stares at him, mulling over his words for a few seconds before sighing.

"Okay. I promise."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll keep pestering you about it until you get sick and tired of me," Makoto wiggles his eyebrows at him, hoping to bring up the mood somewhat.

Leon bursts into a laugh. "Dude, I could never get tired of you."

"I dunno, Byakuya always says I'm annoying—"

"He finds everyone annoying, his opinion doesn't mean shit—"

Makoto chokes at that, and it makes Leon laugh harder. Makoto tries to lean back, but he misjudges how close he was to the bench and smacks his head against it.

Leon wheezes at that, and it finally breaks Makoto, his own laughter ringing out to join Leon's. They laugh for a good long while after that, their giggles eventually dying out as they sprawl out across the floor.

Chapter Text

Music blasts into Makoto's ears at a high volume, an energetic guitar riff bouncing around in his head. It pours out of his earbuds as he makes his way to his class.

The way Hope's Peak Academy structured its classes struck Makoto as a bit odd. He had a home room of sorts, one he would go to every school day in the afternoon before lunch. His homeroom consisted of his entire class, Class 78-A. However, despite that being his class, him and his classmates did not actually share all of the same classes.

The only class they shared besides homeroom was physical education. Apart from that, the rest of their curriculum varied, each being specifically tailored for their talents. Except for Makoto, of course. He was a special case. Besides his general courses, he had been allowed to choose whatever electives he wanted to fill out the rest of his schedule.

Too bad Makoto had been too boring to take advantage of that. Instead, he had opted for a study hall period and Art I because how hard could drawing really be? Truly, Makoto knew how to pick 'em.

What had come as a surprise, though, was finding out that another girl in his class, Fujisaki Chihiro, had also opted to enroll in Art I. She and Makoto hadn't talked much yet, but they had chosen to sit together when they had spotted one another on the first day of school.

And it is that same class that Makoto's walking to now. He enters the room, quickly spotting Fujisaki sitting in the back. Makoto smiles at her as he sits down, taking out his earbuds to greet her.

The bell rings, and their professor gets up from his desk, walking to stand in front of the blackboard. Makoto manages to somewhat pay attention to the lesson, at least enough to know what he's supposed to do when the professor passes the assignment around.

The professor allows them to listen to music while they work, so Makoto wastes no time in plugging in his earbuds and cranking up his music to concentrate, blocking out the general chatter from the students.

He works in peace for a while, until a small hand hesitantly taps the corner of his page. Makoto looks up to see Fujisaki smiling nervously at him. He pauses his music and takes out his earbuds.

"What's up?" Makoto asks.

"Sorry, I...uh, I wasn't paying much attention to the professor. What exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Fujisaki's eyes flit anxiously from side to side, never landing for too long on Makoto's face, and she furiously twirls her pencil in her hands.

It makes his heart clench in sympathy. "Don't worry, it's not super complicated. Here," he gestures to the folds in his paper, "Fold your paper so you have four separate quadrants."

Fujisaki's shoulders sag in relief as she follows his direction, quickly folding her paper in half, and then in half again.

"Okay, good! So now all you have to do is draw four different shapes in each square, and then shade them in so they look 3-D." He shows her his own assignment as a reference.

She sends him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Naegi. And sorry for bothering you."

Makoto shakes his head. "It's fine! Literally, don't even worry about it." He watches her for a second longer, wanting to make sure she knew how to do the assignment correctly.

Fujisaki tries to draw a circle, and Makoto sucks in a sharp breath to hold back a laugh because God bless her, but Fujisaki's circle looks more like a cracked egg than anything else.

He sees her slowly blink at it, her lips pursed.

"Huh."

Makoto snorts at that, and he slaps his hand against his mouth, desperately trying to muffle his giggles.

"I'm sorry—" he gasps, but thankfully Fujisaki takes it in stride because now she's breaking out into soft giggles too.

"Oh my God—"

"It—"

"It looks like a chunky worm," Fujisaki wheezes out, a look of pretend-dismay on her face, and Makoto cracks up along with her.

"Here," he says in between snickers, passing her an eraser.

"Thanks," Fujisaki sighs, "I can't believe I'm this bad at drawing. I can code like no tomorrow but I can't draw a simple circle, oh my God," she dissolves into another fit of quiet laughter.

Makoto wipes some stray tears away from his eyes and catches his breath. "Well, we can't win 'em all, can we?"

"No we cannot, in fact, we aren't winning at all over here—"

"Pffffft—"

They manage to settle back down after that, their muffled laughter slowly quieting down. Honestly, Makoto's surprised they hadn't been scolded by the teacher yet. He places only one earbud back into his ear, tapping the play button on his phone.

"So uh, what are you listening to?" Fujisaki asks, glancing at him before turning back to her drawing.

It pleasantly surprises him that she wants to keep talking. "Uh, 'again' by Yui," he responds.

"You listen to Yui?" Fujisaki looks surprised, and Makoto's face heats up slightly.

"W-well, I mean, not—not really? I tend to only listen to like...the Top 100 and not any individual artists so...yeah," he finishes lamely.

"Well, do you like the song?" Fujisaki tilts her head to the side in curiosity.

"Yeah, I like it! It's pretty nice, actually," he muses.

She grins shyly at that. "You should listen to 'Rolling star' then. It's also by Yui. You'll probably like it if you liked 'again'."

"I'm assuming you're a Yui fan, then?" He teases, lightly bumping his elbow against Fujisaki's.

She nods enthusiastically. Slowly, an idea forms in Makoto's head. He looks back at his phone, then grabs it and places it in between them.

"Do you wanna listen along?"

Fujisaki beams at him. "Sure! After this song plays, I'll show you 'Rolling star'."

"Sounds good to me."

Makoto passes her his other earbud and waits for her to place it in her ear before he rewinds the song and taps play again. As it turns out, 'Rolling star' is indeed a very good song. Fujisaki makes for an excellent DJ, in his opinion.

At the end of the class, he bids his farewells to Fujisaki before going to his study hall period, silently adding 'Rolling star' into his playlist along with a few other songs Fujisaki had recommended.

---

Makoto always preferred reading in the library as opposed to his room, or anywhere else for that matter. He hates being holed up in his room all day, and he's always interrupted by someone when he reads in other places like the cafeteria or the rec room.

So here he is, in the library on the second floor, reading a mystery novel that Byakuya recommended him. Well, recommended is an understatement. In reality, the blond had been consistently bugging him about it for several days now.

There's a soft knock at the library's door, causing Makoto to jerk his head up from his book.

Chihiro sticks his head in.

"Hey!"

"Oh, hey man!" Makoto grins, marking his place in his book and gently closing it.

"Mind if I join you?" Chihiro drums his fingertips against the edge of the door.

"Not at all. C'mon, here, sit." Makoto pulls out the chair next to him, patting it lightly.

Chihiro slips into the room and sits down next to Makoto. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Really?" Makoto asks, furrowing his brows. Did Chihiro need something? Was he doing okay?

"Yeah," Chihiro's eyes widen at his expression, "Oh, don't worry! It's not anything bad, I promise!"

Makoto breathes a little easier. "Ah, alright. So...what's up? Did you want to talk or something?"

Chihiro nods at him, shifting nervously in his seat. "Yeah, I did. I just wanted to give you my thanks."

Huh? Makoto racks his brain for a couple seconds, trying to remember what Chihiro could possibly be thanking him for. "...Your thanks? For what?"

Chihiro's light brown eyes flit around before finally settling on Makoto. "Y'know. For helping me with the whole...coming out...thing. That."

"Oh! Dude, you don't have to thank me for that!" Makoto smiles at him warmly, glad that there isn't anything serious going on. Well, not that coming out isn't a serious thing. Makoto knew more than anyone that it's a very serious matter.

"I know, but...I wanted to. It...it meant a lot to me. I appreciated the support. You're a good friend Makoto," Chihiro says softly.

A giddy feeling blooms in his chest, and Makoto's face breaks out into an easy smile. "Well, that's what friends are for. And I'm glad I was able to help you! I'm really proud of you, y'know."

Chihiro blinks, his warm eyes taking on a glossy sheen. "Thanks. That means a lot. I know I probably didn't pick the best time to come out to everyone, but I didn't want to keep putting it off, you know? With everything going on I just...I didn't want to have any regrets."

Makoto knows a thing or two about regrets. He reaches out a hand and places it atop Chihiro's hands. "I get it. The world's kinda messed up right now. But you didn't pick a bad time. If anything, it makes you...brave. And stronger. Choosing to do it now I mean. Better late than never, right?"

Chihiro flips his hand around to hold his. Makoto gives it a friendly squeeze. "Yeah. You're right. I don't know if it makes me brave though. Or strong. I mean, look at me," the other boy gestures to himself.

Makoto frowns at the action. "No, no, don't talk about yourself like that! You're strong. You. Are. Strong. Strength isn't something that's strictly physical. Yeah, sure, anyone can be physically strong. But not everyone can be like, emotionally strong, or, or mentally strong."

He pauses, placing his other hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "Those types of strengths are rare. They're a gift. So yeah. You're a strong person. Much stronger than I am, that's for sure. And stronger than all of us here combined, probably."

Chihiro blinks, silent tears gently streaming down his face. He sniffles. "Thank you. You're...God, I love you a lot. You know that, right?"

Makoto laughs. "Yeah, I know. I love you too, man." He swings their joined hands side to side.

"But you're strong too. I heard what you said," Chihiro wags his finger at him, "Don't you think I didn't hear that. If you think I'm strong—"

"Not think, I know—"

"—If you say..." Chihiro raises his eyebrows, silently waiting for Makoto's approval on his word choice.

The brunet squints his eyes at him. "...Ugh, close enough—"

Chihiro grins triumphantly. "—If you say I'm strong because I was brave enough to come out at a time like this, as in, despite everything going on in the outside world, then you are also strong. You're strong because of your optimism."

Makoto purses his lips. "I, I don't know, optimism isn't like...it isn't a strength. It—"

The other boy scoffs. "Are you kidding me? I would kill to be as optimistic as you. You're...like, the fact that you haven't let any of this affect you is insane."

Chihiro gently takes off the hand Makoto has on his shoulder and holds it instead. "The fact that despite the state of the world right now, you're able to still keep a positive outlook on life makes me insanely jealous. I wish I could do that."

Makoto stares at him, trying to gather his thoughts into something cohesive. Into something that can convince Chihiro that Makoto's optimism isn't anything special.

Makoto isn't like any of his other friends. He's...he just isn't. "I mean...when you put it like that...you make it sound better than what it's actually like. A lot of the times I just get let down. Or it makes me look stupid and borderline delusional."

Now it's Chihiro's turn to frown at him, a determined light in his eyes. "It's not stupid to have hope, Makoto. It's a strength. And in times like these? It's an asset. It takes a lot of strength to be able to look at the Tragedy and still be optimistic about the future. Still have hope. So you're strong too."

He pauses, a more mischievous glint overtaking the look in his eyes, "Also, you're not allowed to call me strong if I'm not allowed to call you strong."

Makoto splutters, a laugh bubbling up from him. "O-kay—"

"It's only fair!"

"I—Oh my God, alright, alright. Fine."

"Say it."

Two can play at that game. "I'll say it if you say it."

"Mmmm fine. On three—"

"Pfffffff—"

"Okay, okay, one—"

"Two—"

"Three! I'm strong!"

"...I'm strong."

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Makoto shakes his head in disbelief, an amused smile on his lips. He opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it. Should he...?

"Hey, can I tell you something?" He blurts out before he can doubt himself too much.

Chihiro smile softens. "Yeah, anything!"

Makoto takes a breath. Chihiro thinks he's strong. He can do this. He's not the first person to know. He's done this before. "I'm bi."

Chihiro's eyebrows shoot up and he gasps. "Oh! Holy shit! Waaaait, is that why you weren't surprised when I told you I was trans?"

Makoto snorts. "The fact that that's the first thing you thought of—"

"Wait, no, dude, this is amazing—" Chihiro starts laughing, "—First of all, thank you for telling me. That was a very strong and very brave thing to do, if I do say so myself—"

Makoto rolls his eyes good naturedly, his grin so wide it's starting to hurt his cheeks.

"—Second of all, no wonder you were super supportive of me. Cuz you were way more supportive than I expected. The amount of knowledge that you had was a little too much for someone I assumed was just, like, an ally."

"..."

"..."

"...Oh my God—"

Chihiro throws his head back, peals of laughter echoing off the wall of the library. It takes a while before either of them can speak properly, too many hiccups and too many gasps breaking up their words.

Chihiro releases a heavy sigh, his cheeks flushed a rosy color. Makoto honestly isn't fairing any better.

"...Thanks for telling me."

"Thanks for listening," Makoto says, a shy smile on his face.