super duper luckster shota

A plastic smile formed on his face as he glanced over to the smaller boy. “Do you want to hear it? It’s probably not that exciting though.” He cleared his throat. “Well, on my first day of school here, the academy messed up my schedule, so I was talking to the teacher about it. After that was over, I left the room when, all of a sudden, this girl comes crashing into me all of a sudden, hugging onto my arm and giggling until she realized she got the wrong person.” Komaeda laughed, then his grey eyes flitted over to Naegi. “She was trying to surprise you, she must’ve been waiting there for you to come out of the room, but she got me instead.” He smiled crookedly. “Anyway, when she realized it, this look of terror crossed over her face, and she got really flustered.” Another chuckle. “It’s not everyday you see an idol lose her composure. Well, then again you don’t really meet an idol everyday. I guess I’m just lucky, huh?” He grinned. “She’s really sweet though, she showed me around the school and everything! You’re the lucky one, having such a great friend.”

Naegi smiled as Komaeda told the story. Komaeda was smiling too, but there was something a bit off about it. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not. How curious. Komaeda seemed like a very open person, but Naegi couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something. Wait a second- he probably shouldn't be so suspicious of someone he'd just met. He was probably being overly paranoid.

"Thanks for sharing the story! Sayaka must have been pretty embarrassed when that happened," he said with a grin. Komaeda was right though: Naegi was very lucky to have her as a friend.

It was nice to have a friend as cheery as Sayaka. Just talking to her and listening to her laugh was enough to make anyone's day. A strong breeze whooshed past the two and Naegi saw Sayaka shiver as the wind ruffled her skirt.

"Hey, Maizono-san, are you cold? You could always borrow my jacket if you're not warm enough." Naegi would have felt pretty bad if she got sick as a result of their little outing. However, he wasn't entirely sure that his jacket would fit her. After all, she was a little taller than him. Well, they were both kind of small so it would probably work in a pinch.

"I'm glad that being an idol doesn't take up all of your time! I don't think I would ever be able to see you if it did, and that would be sad." Sayaka's smile was very kind and reassuring. It made him feel important, like he was someone worth spending time with. 

                        Happy birthday to the SHSL Luck/Hope!

For once, Akane managed to slow down for a moment and stop her running mouth to think and observe. The boy seemed plain and awkward, perhaps discomforted? Though her pondering was short-lived when the boy had mentioned that he did, indeed, know where the cafeteria was. Her excitement quickly skyrocketed, and she followed him with energy equaled to that of a puppy, tail wagging furiously with mirth.

"Thanks! You’re a lifesaver, Nogai." Akane grinned, trotting behind him as she followed him towards what she assumed to be the cafeteria. "I’ve been starvin’ since I got here. I could use a nice, giant plate of food, y’know? Stomach might’ve caved in and ate itself if ya hadn’t showed up!" 

Wait... Nogai? That definitely wasn't his name. He debated on whether or not he should correct her. What would be more awkward? Alerting her of her mistake or letting her call him by the wrong name because he didn't want to tell her that she was wrong? 

"Ah, Owari-san? My name is Naegi. Also, I sure hope that your stomach doesn't cave in or anything. That doesn't sound very pleasant." Was caving in something that stomachs even did? If it was, Naegi certainly didn't want to experience it.

Komaeda nodded, “ah, yeah, you’re friends with Maizono-san, right? She mentioned you when I first met her. Actually, she mistook me for you.” He chuckled at the thought. “Apparently, our voices are quite similar, at least when they’re muffled from another room.” He didn’t explain his words, figuring there might have been a chance Sayaka had already told him, and he didn’t want to repeat a story that had already been told.

Komaeda’s eyes flitted over and observed the smaller boy. Makoto Naegi. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about the boy, he even looked plain. Talentless and plain. So, why had the others taken such a liking to him? Why was it that Komaeda heard the brunet’s name everywhere? It was strange. He was unremarkable in every way, at least as far as Komaeda could tell. There must be more to him than he thought, maybe Naegi wasn’t as plain as he thought. Komaeda would just have to wait and find out why exactly he was so popular with the other students who were so far above him.

Naegi perked up a bit at the mention of his friend. So Komaeda had already met Sayaka, huh? That was cool. However, he was a bit confused when Komaeda mentioned her mistaking him for Naegi. They didn't look alike at all. Komaeda was much taller than him, and he looked sort of... bleached. That was sort of a weird observation... Naegi thought to himself. He was glad that he hadn't said it aloud. He didn't mean it rudely, but he didn't want to weird out a potential friend. Anyways, the only way he and Komaeda resembled each other at all was that they were both wearing green.

Sayaka thought that they sounded alike? That was an interesting observation. Naegi hadn't really thought about it until Komaeda had brought it up. "Oh, really? I actually haven't heard that story yet. Do you think we sound similar, Komaeda-kun?"

"Oh, I don't really have a favorite sandwich. I'm not really picky when it comes to this sort of thing. Also, I have a bit of a difficult time choosing favorites. I'm certain that whatever you made is going to be delicious, Maizono-san! Thanks again for preparing this picnic basket though! It must have been a lot of work." Naegi was actually very, very excited to eat whatever was in the picnic basket and was very grateful that Sayaka had taken the time to make it. She was always so considerate!

It wasn't too cold outside, but that was probably because he was wearing a jacket now. He probably would have frozen over if his friend hadn't reminded him to put a coat on. He looked over at Sayaka, wondering if she was cold or not. He hoped her jacket was keeping her warm enough.

The grumbling in her stomach told her to make him bring her straight to the cafeteria, but she didn’t want to seem rude. Besides, it was fairly early in the morning. Maybe the kid was hungry too. And Akane could use a friend. So, instead, she slowed down a bit, digging her heels into the tile. 

"Sorry, didn’t mean to freak ya out." She said apologetically. The strong shouldn’t pick on the weak, after all. 

Owari Akane, huh? That was a pretty cool name. "My name is Naegi Makoto. It's nice to meet you, Owari-san! I was actually just on my way to the cafeteria right now, but I sort of turned in the opposite direction. I'd be happy to show you the way!"

He had never been good at introducing himself. His introductions were always very plain and characterless. But that was just the kind of person he was; he had always considered himself to be a very mundane sort of guy, so an introduction without much spice or personalization fit him rather well once he had thought about it. 

Komaeda placed his last book on the shelf, then sat back and glanced over at his companion. “I never imagined I’d be attending Hope’s Peak. I’m just a normal high school student, I have no talent, not really. The one I supposedly have a lousy one anyway…” Komaeda smiled bitterly, “Ah, sorry. I can’t help but have some negative feelings, it’s a bad habit of mine. Rambling is too, mind you.” He chuckled softly.

He remembered wondering why he was even going. Luck wasn't even a real thing in his opinion! But as soon as he started talking to people and making friends, those thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind and forgotten about. Naegi didn't usually let negative thoughts linger in his head for too long. Komaeda didn't really seem to be the same way.

"Ah, there's no need to apologize! I understand how you feel, and you weren't really rambling anyways. I mean, it's not hard to feel like you don't belong when you're the only normal kid in a school full of prodigies." 

Oh yeah! How had Komaeda known about him anyways? Naegi had been curious about it earlier, but he had dismissed the question when he was cleaning up the books.  

"I didn’t see ya at first, shrimp." Akane laughed, an arm reaching forward and somewhat-gently patting and rubbing his hair, causing it to be even more of a mess than it already was. "I coulda run you over accidentally! Bet you wouldn’t last a minute in a fight with those noodle arms… mm, noodles." She let her other bent arm rest on her hip, bringing her other hand down to her side after letting static collect on the boy’s head.

He quickly averted his eyes. He wouldn't want her to think he was a pervert! But it was really hard not to look when he was literally right at boob-level. 

Hey... Who was she calling a shrimp?! He knew he was short but she didn't have to rub it in! He was feeling a bit offended. Noodle arms? Gosh, this was getting worse and worse! She reached out and patted his head, ruffling his hair a bit. Naegi wasn't really sure how he felt about this girl. She was a bit... abrasive. It would be mean to refuse her help though, so Naegi decided that he'd give her a second chance.