Twice The Luck!

ho-for-hope: of course! anything! though i'm probably far too dismally ill-informed to know the answer, i'm afraid!

curry-heelies: actually... only you know the answer to this one!

ho-for-hope: then i should tell someone right away before i shamefully forget whatever it is!

curry-heelies: haha silly

curry-heelies: okay the question is

* curry-heelies has gone idle.

ho-for-hope: ...yes?

curry-heelies: sorry im!

curry-heelies: im just

curry-heelies: nagito will you date me??

ho-for-hope: of course, makoto!

curry-heelies: really??

ho-for-hope: yes! nothing could be easier, even for one of remedial-at-best talent such as me!

ho-for-hope: it's the 21st of march!

curry-heelies: um

curry-heelies: so you mean today?

ho-for-hope: yes, today's date!

curry-heelies: i mean thats fine if you want to do it today! ill check what places are open!

ho-for-hope: places?

curry-heelies: do you wanna do a movie? restaurant? coffee shop?

ho-for-hope: i

curry-heelies: oh!! i heard of a place with a coffee shop inside a bookshop!!

ho-for-hope: makoto, what are you talking about?

curry-heelies: places for our date!

ho-for-hope: ofhg

ho-for-hope: our

ho-for-hope: kll;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

curry-heelies: nagito! are you okay?

ho-for-hope: were you asking me

ho-for-hope: m

ho-for-hope: on a

curry-heelies: yes!

ho-for-hope: me??????

curry-heelies: you!

ho-for-hope: .

ho-for-hope: i.

ho-for-hope: i think you may have the wrong. wperdson.

curry-heelies: you dont want to go?

ho-for-hope: tihs is nagito komaeda from 77b...

curry-heelies: i sure hope so haha!

curry-heelies: no pun intended!

ho-for-hope: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

curry-heelies: are you okay nagito? im sorry if i caused a misunderstanding!

ho-for-hope: hhhhhh

curry-heelies: you dont have to date me if you dont want to!

ho-for-hope: h.

curry-heelies: ?

ho-for-hope: i

ho-for-hope: i'll be ready at 7:30

ho-for-hope: aaaaaaaaa

curry-heelies: yay i cant wait!!

* ho-for-hope has gone idle and is screaming into a pillow.

“I’m sorry it’s not a normal kind of date.  I just remembered I’d agreed to help Shikiba and I didn’t want to cancel on you outright…”

“For all the experience I have, this could be a completely normal date!” said Nagito cheerfully.

“But do you know what Celeste said when I told her?  She said ‘Well, I wouldn’t trust you pair of submissive lambikins around any kind of tools’…”  Makoto unlocked the garden shed.  “But then I asked if she meant she wanted to come help, and she said ‘That’s what I have men for, dear’.  Like, make up your mind!”

“It’s not as though we’re doing anything dangerous,” said Nagito, picking up a trowel and giving it an uncertain heft.

“He even labelled them for us, he said.”  Sure enough, Makoto found the small sack marked Early Onions without difficulty.

Nagito had found some gardening gloves; he handed Makoto a second pair.  See, they were off to a great start!

“All right.  He said it’s this bed over here, the one under the cherry tree…”

Nagito followed him with the rest of the gear, sparing the tree a wry look.  It was bare, of course, being February.  No blossoms for Makoto’s birthday.  But maybe there would be for Nagito’s!  He could take Nagito to look at them.  Yes, they’d go together and they’d hold hands—Nagito would finally agree to let people see they were dating, he’d realise he was worthy of Makoto—better yet, he’d realise there was no such thing as worthy, and then maybe… maybe they’d kiss!  In front of the trees and everyone!  Now there was a hopeful thought.

Makoto tripped over his feet in excitement and planted his face in the bare earth.

“Are you inspecting the beds personally?” asked Nagito with all that subtle irony he displayed sometimes.

“Yeah, something like that.”  Makoto picked himself off, brushed off his nose and the knees of his uniform pants—on reflection, he should’ve done like Nagito had and changed into something more casual before heading off to grub around in the dirt.  He’d been too excited to think about details.  Cute guy and all that.

Nagito smoothly folded his long legs into a kneel.  “Ah… Shikiba really didn’t leave much to chance.”  He held up a hand-drawn diagram of a bulb, tiny feathery roots and all, firmly labelled PLANT THIS END DOWN.

They set to work.

“I guess everyone thinks we’re that hopeless,” said Makoto with a rueful grin.

Nagito’s laugh was gentle, as if apologising for its audibility.  Makoto wanted to hear it more often.  “Then they’re wrong.  It’s never hopeless with Makoto around.  By definition.”

“Are you talking about—ah, Nagito, you know Ultimate Hope is just a nickname my classmates came up with!  Now I think about it, it must have been after I tried cheering Toko up one too many times…”

“That many Ultimates can’t be wrong, that’s what I always say,” said Nagito, who was capable of digging in his heels on certain topics every bit as effectively as he was currently digging in the onion bulbs.

Makoto stuck out his tongue, but he continued in Nagito’s wake, patting down the soil and giving the bulbs their first watering-can baths.

It looked as though, in spite of certain people’s expectations, their task would soon be finished without any disasters at all.

“I wonder how long until we see them growing,” said Makoto.  Dim recollections arose of the time he’d planted an acorn and checked back hourly on its progress, before running to his mother at dinner time in tears because it hadn’t become a tree.  Hey, he’d been five, all right?!

“Assuming my accursed presence hasn’t poisoned them somehow,” Nagito offered cheerfully.  “Knowing my luck, they’ll all wither and the soil will go completely barren, or they’ll grow into homicidal monsters, or…”

“Or,” said Makoto, before the ball of hypothetical horrors could really get rolling, “what if it’s good luck instead, and they all grow big and beautiful and tasty in stir fries?”

“Oh, no, I think I’ve already identified the good luck in this situation,” said Nagito with hooded eyes.

“Really?  What’s th— Nagito, why’s your bag glowing?”

Nagito followed his eyes.  He took off his gloves and opened his book bag.  “Ah…” he said.

Makoto realised what it was just before Nagito produced his wand.  The weird, dark metal wand, one of the pair they’d found by accident while out walking together.  Glowing, which was why they’d originally seen them, but hadn’t happened since then.

“Do you think it senses danger?”

Makoto picked up his own backpack.

“Ha!  So you don’t want to be far from yours either?”

“I feel all uneasy and lonely if I get too far away from it, a little like when I’m away from… um, from home,” Makoto quick-thinkingly unadmitted. Ha, and to think Kyoko had called him an open book!  “But mine isn’t glowing, look, so either it doesn’t mean that or… heehee… I’m the threat.”

Nagito gasped dutifully at Makoto’s fierce face and intimidating flex.  But he did grin a little.  “If I ever find the Ultimate Hope is my adversary, I’m switching sides.”

Makoto zipped his backpack up again.  “So maybe yours wants you to transform.  You could try it.”

“I don’t even know how it happened the first time.  Do you?”

“Um, no.” Makoto frowned and touched his chin with a knuckle, a gesture he’d unconsciously picked up from Nagito.  “Maybe wave it around?  Twirl with it?  Is there a magic word written on it…?”

“No, no and no,” said Nagito dizzily.  “I don’t even think I was thinking anything special that first time.  All I remember was feeling—um, well, that surely wasn’t it.”

Makoto leaned forward like a puppy seeing a ball.  “What?  What?”

“Oh, nothing… um.”  Nagito squirmed.  “I was just feeling very… extremely ga—”

It happened immediately.  Nagito’s formerly quivering fingers clamped firmly around the wand and he struck an unlikely pose, spine bent such that somehow his chest and his rear were in view at once.  Blood-red ribbons of light spilled out and cocooned him.  Makoto even thought he heard a faint theme song.

Nagito’s high heels touched the ground again.  He looked down and smoothed his slinky red cocktail dress.

Makoto choked on a giggle.  At the questioning look, he said, “They’re back…”

“What are—oh no.”  Nagito reached up and tugged at one fuzzy cat ear. “Magical girl and catboy now?  How is this reasonable?”

“I don’t know about reasonable, but it’s cute.”

“Yes, but we didn’t even turn into cats… dog… animal people on the same day—they were completely separate incidents!”

“Maybe your magic wand found it cute too.”

Nagito’s fluffy white tail lashed.  He started to lick a hand, then thrust it embarrassedly behind his back.  “And what was even the point of this?” he demanded of the magic wand.

“Ooh…” said Makoto.

“…just trying to have a normal date with a very adorable boy and you go around glowing and, and giving people hairy ears willy-nilly…”

“Um…” said Makoto, who was all squeaky inside after being described as very adorable.

“…appreciate some idea of what you want me to do here.  I mean, magical girl powers aren’t exactly something the guidance counsellor can help with, and I’ve asked her…”

“Nagito, look!”

“…said it wasn’t even the weirdest thing she’s been asked by a student at this school, which is saying somethi—yes, Makoto?”

Makoto mutely pointed.

“…oh,” said Nagito, accurately.

The onions were growing.

The onions were growing big…

“Nyaow!” Nagito hissed and swiped his wand at a waist-high bundle of leaves.  The leaves took no notice, neither to attack him nor to quail away from his indignant hiss.  The bulb at the base of those leaves, half submerged in soil, was massive, more like the size of a pumpkin.

The onions stopped growing with a self-satisfied chlorophyllic creak.

“Uh,” said Makoto.

“…Yeah,” said Nagito, slinking farther away from the garden bed before anything else could happen.

“So that was…”

“It sure was…”

“Do you think that’s your magic power?  Nagito, that’s such a cool power! They’re blooming like crazy!”

“I don’t think onions bloom, do they?”

“I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure they don’t normally do that, either.”

They stared at the vegetable garden a little more.  Then, both at once, they started laughing.

“Onions, right? Pungent and making people cry.  Perfect imagery for me!”

“Nooooo, onions are good!  They’re good in cooking, they give things flavour, and… they have like, circles.  What’s the word?  Like layers!  They’re complicated, just like you!”

“You think I’m good?”  Makoto realised Nagito had stopped laughing.

“Yes, silly catboy, I think you’re very good.”  He stuck out his tongue, just to be extra convincing.

Nagito wordlessly reached out and brushed a petal out of his hair.

“And I’m not sorry we’re dating, even if weird stuff like this happens every time.”  A falling petal tickled his nose.  He rubbed it with the back of his gardening glove.  “At least I get to experience the weird stuff with you.”

Nagito shuffled his feet.  Or maybe he was just trying to keep the heels from sinking into the grass.  He rubbed the back of his neck, trailing the red veils that formed part of his distractingly alluring outfit.  They looked kind of nice, spangled with pink petals.

“Wait a minute,” said Makoto, looking up.

At the riotously blossoming cherry tree.

They gawped at each other, framed in falling flowers.  Then one of them reached for the other’s hand, and later on neither remembered who it had been.

For @twicetheluck

Day 7: Flight/Healing

“…ma…da… Komaeda-kun? Komaeda-kun?”

His eyes cracked open slowly as he remained sprawled on his back. Ants were crawling over his fingers, a beetle was hidden in the shadow of his mitten, and the blinding sunlight above was blocked out by the worried face of the so-called Ultimate Hope. A smile stretches across thin, dry lips.

“You look like an angel, Naegi-kun.”

“How long have you been lying there?” Naegi just asks, distressed. “I was told you went missing hours ago. Why did you do that? I know the hospital staff can be stiff but you need to recover to the best of your ability, Komaeda-kun.” He held out his hand, frown deepening at the lack of stirring from the body below. “Come on. Please? I’ll take you back and stay with you for as long as I can.”

“Don’t you have better things to do besides chase a worthless worm like me?” he returned ever cheerfully. “Like spreading hope, perhaps? You’re just wasting your time otherwise. You’re no good for anything else, Naegi-kun.”

Twitching, Naegi reached out and grabbed his arm. With a grunt, he dug his heels in as he yanked him up. It wasn’t that difficult, even with Naegi’s small statue. He swayed once he was on his feet, his smile faded. Naegi was quick to start dusting him off, swatting away all the dead leaves and insects.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Naegi asked, looking up at him sternly, taking his wrist and squeezing. “I have no intention of abandoning you, regardless of your attitude, Komaeda-kun.”

“We’re not friends,” he only laughed. “And I don’t recognize that name anymore.”

Naegi shook his head.

“No, that’s wrong, Komaeda-kun.” His glare, then, was surprisingly chilling. Had she also been afraid? Curious. Truly curious. He hadn’t been this afraid even when his arm was broken. “We’re friends, Komaeda-kun, we’re definitely friends.”

Broken bones cannot begin to compare to this sensation.

“Naegi-kun, I really don’t deserve to recover from all I’ve done. Wouldn’t it be better to just end up crushed to a bloody pulp under my sins? Don’t you think so?”

“Not at all, Komaeda-kun.”

Naegi tugged, but it wasn’t the same forceful yank as before. Naegi was grimacing now, pained and strained.

“I’ll help you as much as I can. I promise, Komaeda-kun.”

“Stop calling me that. Your friend is dead. She killed him.”

“Komaeda-kun, Komaeda-kun, Komaeda-kun.”

Without thinking, he covered Naegi’s mouth with his free hand. Naegi inhaled, nostrils flaring from the dust of his mitten, but against his prosthetic, he once more murmured that name that had been long trampled into the ground.

“I really do hate you,” he found himself saying. “For killing her and trying to revive such a worthless wretch.”

“That’s unfortunate, because I love you, Komaeda-kun.”

“I hate you so much.”

“I love you.” Naegi pulls down his prosthetic hand. “Now, let’s get going.”

I wish I could burst into flames from such an angelic touch.

For @twicetheluck

Day 6: Sea/Soft

To say Nagito liked his bed was an understatement. He seemed fascinated with the idea of wiggling under the covers and having them remain still on his body. He buried his face into the pillow and breathed. Naegi tried not to stare at the flexing slit on the other’s neck. He did, however, jump when Nagito coughed because of the dust.

“B-Be careful!” he yelped, quickly getting him a glass of water. He didn’t think that through, because he could only watch helplessly as Nagito dumped the entirety of it on himself, soaking the sheets and the pillow. Nagito blinked a few times, and he sniffed at the air.

“Oh. The water’s different.”

“Yeah, it’s not salt,” Naegi said, still blankly staring. “Humans can’t really drink salt water.”

“I guess it still feels nice, albeit unfamiliar,” Nagito said, burying his face once more in the wet pillow. “Mm. Naegi’s scent and the strange water he drinks… How fascinating and strange.”

A merman is saying that.

Nagito’s scaly legs were kicking slightly, and they were still such an enthralling sight. Long and full, unmistakably human if not for the colorful glimmers of pearl scattered throughout. Naegi flushed, curious about the texture, wondering if it would be soft or smooth.

But, obviously, there’s no way I can just ask.

“You haven’t been on land before?” he wondered instead. “You seem pretty curious about humans, so…”

“I didn’t have the confidence to ask if I could invite myself into a human home,” Nagito said simply. “It’s—audacious, don’t you think?”

“I…suppose if you don’t know the person very well, yes.” He rubbed his sternum, lips twisting at how hard his heart was pounding. “I was actually surprised when you asked me. I don’t mind having you over at all, of course…”

Nagito giggled.

“It’s in part because I can tell you aren’t a threat. I can tell—you’re afraid of me, Naegi.”

“Afraid is…not the word I’d use. Maybe wary? Not that I think you’re untrustworthy! That’s wrong!” he hurriedly exclaimed, shaking his head furiously. “It’s, um, it’s more that I feel out of my depth, so to speak. This would be embarrassing even if you were human.”

“Would it, now?” Nagito asks, slit eyes wide and curious. “I can’t help but think I’d make for a hideous human. Even as I am, it’s not much—but humans are inherently drawn to us anyway. I wouldn’t dare do anything to you but the fact that I could—you don’t find that frightening?”

“Not really.” He finds he’s sincere, here. “I just don’t take you for the type, regardless of your species. And even so, you’ve said before that some humans hunt your kind. And yet. You’re not afraid of me, either.”

Nagito’s smile was gentle.

“Nope!” he chirps. “Naegi’s too sweet and cuddly! I’m not afraid at all!”

Naegi does return his smile at that.

“I’m not afraid of you, either. I trust you, Nagito.”

“Trust? Eh?” Nagito tried the word on his tongue again, unsure about the taste. “Truuuust?”

“I guess I’m just…ehe, optimistic?” Naegi sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck. “Something like that.”

“Something,” Nagito echoed. “Naegi is definitely something, alright.”

Izuru: Let me reconstruct this sequence of events. You two decided to plant some flower bulbs.

Makoto: Mhm!

Izuru: And you did this in what you rightly identified as a flower bed.

Nagito: See! We're not completely hopeless!

Izuru: And, after digging the holes, you tried to work out which way up the bulbs should be planted.

Makoto: Yeah... we weren't sure at first, but...

Izuru: Whereupon you decided that, because they were "in a bed", you would plant them "lying down", roots and shoots on the same level.

Nagito: It was logical! Right...?

For @twicetheluck

Day 5: Garden/Sweet

“A harvest! It’s a harvest! Such a fruitful harvest! Aah, and the tulips are blooming, too! Beautiful! So beautiful! This is the true breeding ground of hope!”

Adjusting his sunhat, Naegi snorted fondly at his boyfriend’s antics. It wasn’t very often that Komaeda did yardwork with him, being a little too frail for the extensive labor and sun. But, it was clear that he was happy with the garden. He was always so giddy when the time came to gather up the newly ripe fruits and vegetables and to admire the flowers.

Even now, Komaeda had swept in to breathe in the scent of the tulips, in a state of bliss. He was even delighted by the sight of a butterfly landing close by and a bee buzzing about.

It’s good. It gives him something to look forward to. A reason to get through the days.

Sucking in his breath, Naegi stretched out the moment by picking and uprooting as slowly as he possibly could. It wasn’t very often that Komaeda’s mood was like this—and last week had been particularly…difficult on both of them. Komaeda hadn’t wanted to even get out of bed for hours on end and the difference here was striking.

Tugging on his hat’s brim, Naegi felt the weight of sunshine. Komaeda’s laughter was calming, and for a moment, he could believe that it’d last.

“What do you think we should make with this batch?” he asks cheerfully. “Jam for our toast, maybe?”

“Ooh!” Komaeda’s eyes were alit as he clasped his hands. “What a wonderful idea, Naegi-kun! Ah! How many strawberries do we have? Should we also mix them with apples? The orchards are looking great! It’s almost a shame to pick them clean, aha…”

“We don’t have to pick them right away,” Naegi said, smile twitching. “Just what we need is good for now.”

“Yes, it would be good to not be greedy…” Trailing off, Komaeda bit into one of the strawberries. “Mm! They taste great, though!”

“Just be sure not to eat the green part, Nagito-kun.”

“Of course, of course!”

Without really thinking, Naegi bit into a plum. Soft and sweet—and yet there was a tart edge to it. What an idyllic life the two of them lead. He’ll have to make sure nothing rots, though, because Komaeda will just forget. Part of why it’s good to not pick the garden clean in one harvest is because Komaeda forgets, and the face he makes when he realizes he forgot is distressing.

“It makes sense, of course,” said Nagito, stroking them wistfully.  “You love everyone and everyone loves you.  Why wouldn’t you be…?”

“You really think that?”  Somehow, Nagito’s views were always surprising, no matter how long Makoto spent trying to understand them.

“Now, me, on the other hand.  Do they still count as hands…?  They haven’t changed, so probably.  Anyway, nobody loves me.  I don’t mind, of course.  That’s as it should be.”

You mention it awful often for someone who doesn’t mind, thought Makoto, feeling a little helpless.  The steady hand moving over his ears calmed him, though.

“But cats… of course, they’re misunderstood by some.  So many people adore them, though…”  A wistful sigh.

“Can I get a turn now?” Makoto asked, raising his head from Nagito’s lap.

“Why would you want…?  Ah, not for me to question.”  Nagito bowed his head.  Makoto got into a kneeling position for some extra height and shyly reached for the white, pointed, elegant ears.  Oh!  They were so soft!  Within moments he was petting as carelessly as he would his parents’ dog at home.

Nagito embarked upon what sounded suspiciously like a purr, then slapped his hand over his mouth.

“So fluffy… fluffy and soft… ah!  What was that?”  Makoto turned around, startled.  There was nothing on the bench behind him.  He turned back.  The thumping resumed.

Nagito giggled.  “It’s your tail.”

“Ohhhh.”

“So cute.  So energetic and eager.  Of course everyone would have to… love…”  Nagito sighed into middle distance and absently ruffled Makoto’s puppy ears among his messy hair.

“All the same…”  Makoto paused to reorder all the letters racing around inside his head.  “I wouldn’t mind being, well, elegant.  Refined.  Mysterious…”

Nagito turned to face him.  Makoto realised their noses were almost touching.

“…tall,” he finished lamely.

For one moment, heavy with luck and possibility, neither moved.

Then Makoto squeaked at something fluffy poking under the back of his hoodie.

“Sorry!”  Nagito—no, no, he was turning away—too late, spell broken.  Makoto saw him reach down and fetch his gorgeous long-fluffed tail from where it had curled around them both.  “So forward,” he scolded it in a voice seething barely under the surface with frustrated self-hatred.

It was just too much.  Makoto reached out, turned Nagito’s face towards his own (disoriented only for a second by the blank space where the human ear used to be) and—lost his nerve—no, darn it!—screwed his eyes closed and puckered his lips ferociously and kissed the beautiful, frustrating catboy before he could get away.

He could swear Nagito actually mewed.

Makoto remembered to open his eyes again.  “Ah, heh…”  Nagito’s face was… unreadable, open-mouthed.  Makoto bit his lip and squeezed the scruff of his own neck in embarrassment.  “Sorry.  Only, I’ve been wanting to do that all evening, even before we ran into that magic fox, um… was that… all right?”

“A-ah,” said Nagito, and “uu,” and “e-eeh?” and “oh,” and just when Makoto despaired of him finding two consonants to string together, he said “That w-was, all right…”  His hands started combing through his fluffy cat tail with frantic intensity.

“I didn’t mean to, um,” but Makoto darn well had meant to, so he couldn’t really say that, ”but you are beautiful, Nagito, just like a cat, a-and!  I don’t think it’s true that nobody could love you!  In fact I know for sure it’s not!  B-because!”

“Canwetalka—”  Nagito stopped and tried again.  “Can we, would you mind if, talk about this, later, please, only,”

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same!  I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it’s, it’s not that.”  Nagito wrung his tail harder than looked quite comfortable.  “I have a lot I’d like to say, but right now… I’m having to overcome an extremely strong urge to hide up a tree and lick myself until the embarrassment wears off, and I’d really just like to get back to the dorms.”

For @twicetheluck

Day 4: Birthday/First

It really is just rotten luck!

“Ah, almost forty degrees, huh,” he hears Naegi utter above him in distaste. In disapproval. His face pinched up with such an unsightly grimace. “Yeah, you’re not in any state to go out, Komaeda-kun.”

Delirious from the fever and his ever wretched worthlessness, Komaeda could only cough hopelessly as Naegi pressed a cooling pad to his sweat-slick forehead. Naegi’s lips were still twisting unhappily, and if Komaeda’s throat wasn’t so sore from coughing constantly, he’d apologize profusely. His eyes were already watering terribly as Naegi gently brushed his fringe back in spite of all that.

“Y-You…should…” Komaeda croaked. Naegi shushed him, but he pushed on determinedly. “C-Call…Kirigiri-san or Maizono-san or Togami-kun or anyone…don’t…let your reservation go to waste…”

“I’m not going without you.” Naegi shook his head. “It’s fine. We can eat there later.”

“T-Today is…your birthday, Naegi-kun. It truly would be despairing if…you wasted the day on someone like me…”

“Don’t push yourself,” Naegi murmured with such merciful concern. He urged him to drink a bit of water, rubbing his throat. “It’s not a waste. We’re dating, aren’t we?”

“A-Aha, that I’d get sick on your first birthday with me as your worthless boyfriend…” Komaeda cracks a pained smile. “Isn’t that the worst?”

“It’s alright,” Naegi said. “I don’t mind at all.”

I mind, he thought sullenly. And you should, too. You could at least be a little openly annoyed with me for ruining our plans, Naegi-kun.

“Nagito-kun, you mustn’t blame yourself.” It was as if the other read his mind. It’s here that Naegi finally reprimands him, and this is the unfortunate situation. “It’s not your fault you got sick. And I really don’t have any problems taking care of you.” Under his breath, he adds, “I’d be a pretty crappy boyfriend if I did.”

“Naegi-kun…”

Before he could be told off for even suggesting such a thing, Naegi hurriedly leaned in and pecked his cheek. The would-be rant died on the spot, Komaeda nearly choking and in a state of such a high fever, he damn near passed out. Just from that.

“It’s okay,” Naegi says, and he’s smiling sweetly. He’s brushing his hair back. “I like taking care of you. You can just rest, now. I’m so glad you’re here with me on my birthday, Nagito-kun.”

Komaeda made a strangled sound of anguished affection. Naegi kept petting his hair, humming gently, and—and, and, and.

Honestly. There was only so much more he could take. So, it wasn’t a surprise when he did seriously pass out not long after.

Tue, 4 Feb:

For @twicetheluck​

Day 3: The Stars/Electricity

 It was raining out, and the only thing more downtrodden than the stormy sky was Komaeda’s pouting face as he stared out the window. He seemed to get more and more depressed the longer the rain went on, no matter how much Naegi tried to pat his shoulder.

“It happens,” he said. “Bad luck, you know.”

Komaeda sighed heavily, nodding along forlornly.

I think that just made things worse.

“U-Um!” Naegi tugged at his sleeve. “There are activities we can do inside! And still have lots of fun! I’m sure of it, Komaeda-kun!”

At his words, thunder rumbled. The lights flickered once. Naegi held his breath.

And then, the lights went out.

Thankfully, Komaeda was ever prepared and took out a small pocket flashlight, flicking it on to shine on Naegi’s suffering, exasperated face. A smile twitched at his lips, but he remarked neutrally.

“I suppose it is getting late enough to just sleep. While I was looking forward to stargazing—just being with you is a treat, I suppose, Naegi-kun.”

“Ah, don’t flatter me.” As happy as he was to hear that, he was still more embarrassed than anything. “But do you really just want to sleep? You’re not the biggest fan of loud noises, Komaeda-kun.”

“Well.” Komaeda shrugs. “There’s not much else to do.”

Naegi’s frown deepened. Another crash of thunder. A flash of lightning. Komaeda’s smile remains. Nonchalant and shallow. He’s gotten to know Komaeda well enough to tell.

“Uh. Can you flash that light at the hallway closet real fast?”

Komaeda blinked once and obeyed. Once the path was clear, Naegi scrambled over, pulling the door opening and rummaging through, past all the sheets and the like. Komaeda slowly walked after him, bemused.

“Did you want to play a board game?” he asked. “In this weather? I guess I wouldn’t mind a round of go.”

“It’s not that! Although, if you want to play go…” Naegi trailed off, hurriedly shaking his head and going back to digging through the various sheets. “J-Just give me a second! I know I buried it here somewhere!”

“It being…?”

“Aha!” With a grin and a flourish, Naegi pulled out a box and held it high above him in victory. “This!”

Komaeda lifted the flashlight to get a better look at it, and his eyes went wide at the picture of a planetarium projector. Naegi moved to open it, cheeks glowing as he did.

“T-This was supposed to be an anniversary present, but I think this is the perfect opportunity for it, so… I-It’s battery operated! We can still look at the stars even when it’s raining! Pretty cool, huh? Although it’s not exactly like the real thing. Ah. Urgh.” He began to struggle. “W-Why is the packaging so tight?”

He darted up at Komaeda dropping the flashlight, immediately turning to the other in alarm.

“Komae—?”

He yelped when Komaeda embraced him suddenly and tightly.

“I’m sure they’ll be beautiful,” was murmured into his shoulder. “It’ll be wonderful. I’m sure of it. Thank you so much, Naegi-kun.”

Heart pounding, Naegi felt his face burned. Any hotter and it’d surely burst into flames that could illuminate the whole room.

“I-It’s…y’know…”

Mon, 3 Feb:

Animals -or- Music

For @twicetheluck

Day 2: Animals/Music

It would start as one. Then, another joined. Another and another. Until finally, a harmony of howls from all the dogs. Komaeda was delighted by this and even Naegi couldn’t help but smile.

“They’re singing! They’re all singing!”

“Even when one stops, it’s not long before he starts up again,” Naegi remarks a little dryly. “I wonder if it’s impulse.”

“Tanaka-kun would know,” Komaeda chirped. “Either way, isn’t it cute?”

The howling went on and on.

“It’s so nice how dogs harmonize like that,” Komaeda went on, lacing his fingers. “This must be what true camaraderie is like.”

For some reason, when Naegi imagined people yelling in unison, he found he wasn’t nearly as endeared. Still, he chuckled.

“So, we’re just going to let Ai and Suki keep on singing, huh?”

“Of course!” Komaeda exclaimed, almost affronted. “We mustn’t interrupt such an important tradition, Naegi-kun!”

Tradition?

The breeze blew past, and Naegi felt a little chilly. They weren’t the only dog owners there content to let their pets be. One woman was humming along. The park was alive with howling, and it really was starting to feel otherworldly.

Maybe even a little eerie, even as Komaeda remained so enchanted.

It’s an atmosphere only dogs could create, Naegi thought.

“Was your last pet like this, too?” he couldn’t help but ask. Komaeda’s shoulders stiffened. Just as Naegi was ready to burst into apologies, Komaeda’s smile returned like nothing was wrong at all.

“Sachiko loved singing more than anything. My parents would complain a lot, so we went on many walks together. I didn’t mind and would even try to sing along, aha.” Komaeda snorted into his hand. “Well, even back then, I did a lot of strange things. But when I had a friend, I didn’t mind.”

Naegi blinked, quiet for the moment.

Someone called for one of the dogs, and it rushed to their side loyally and cheerfully. Its tail wagged furiously as they leaned down to clip the leash to its collar.

We can give ours a few more minutes.

“She was pretty excited on the last day on the way back,” Komaeda murmured. “I thought it’d be a good thing to burn off some of that energy.”

“We’ll leave when they’re suitably exhausted,” Naegi replied. “But I’ll stay vigilant, Komaeda-kun.”

Komaeda nods along, smile small but straining.

“I will be, as well.”

Naegi took his hand and squeezed, a little flustered but not sure what else to say at a moment like this.

“So… are we magical girls, or is ‘magical boy’ allowed?”

“Hell if I know.”

“Nagito! You can’t say h… heck while you’re transformed!”

“You can’t seem to say hell even when you’re not, so it cancels out, hmm?”

Makoto humphed quietly. He sat, careful not to rumple his skirts (and why so many petticoats, anyway?  And ruffles?  So very many ruffles), and examined the brown wooden wand in his lap.  It was a little longer than his forearm, a rich chestnut, inlaid with little threads of what looked like gold.  At one end, a carving of a little bird.  Inlaid into the other end, missable at first glance, there was…

“Is this an emerald?” he asked, waving it at Nagito.

Nagito caught the tip of the wand and held it still.  “Polished jade, it looks like.  They’re really nothing alike, Makoto.”

“They’re… green…”  Makoto swung his heels embarrassedly.  The benches here, in addition to being uncomfortable stone, were all rather high.

Nagito stretched, his own dark metal wand held lightly in one hand.  Probably, like Makoto, he was feeling some kind of urge against putting it down.  Even that unselfconscious movement, Nagito made look graceful.  It didn’t hurt that he was currently enwrapped in gauzy, floaty sleeves and a silken split skirt, decked out with scarves that streamed behind him in the slightest air current.  A choker made of – well, Makoto didn’t want to embarrass himself by misidentifying any more gemstones, but they were blood red like the rest of the ensemble.  Contrasted with Nagito’s pale skin and cloudlike tufts of hair, the effect was jaw-dropping.

Makoto felt on top of his head and took off the tiara he found there.  A brownish metal, with what looked like the same muddy green stones.  The same colours were echoed throughout his own outfit, just with a lot more white.  And ruffles.  And had he mentioned the petticoats?  The persistent comparison that occurred to him was a mouldy cupcake.

Nagito must have seen him frowning, because he said “You look like a pretty earth spirit.  It’s adorable.  I just want to kiss your hea– pat.  Pat your head.”  Nagito looked away.  His hair, untamed as ever even when magically grown slightly longer, swished with the sharp motion.

“Do you think we should put the wands back?” Makoto asked.  With what seemed like too much effort, he set his down on the bench next to him.  Nothing happened other than the full moon’s light lending the gold tracery a pale gleam.  Makoto didn’t change back into his jeans and hoodie, as he’d thought he might.

“Mmm…” said Nagito, who seemed absorbed by his own wand.  Makoto noticed a red stone set in the base of it, a twin to his own jade.  Was there a carving on the top, like his?  He bounced to his feet, scooping his wand up without a second thought, and came closer.  There was.  It looked like a shrine lion statue.

“Should we put them back?” Makoto repeated.

“Do… you think they were meant for us?” asked Nagito, who didn’t seem to heave heard him.  “For you, yes, I can see that – it suits you so well, and I always suspected you were meant for something wonderful…”

“You suspected that?”  Makoto was surprised.  He certainly hadn’t.

“Mmm.”  Nagito smiled at him.  It was his usual carefree smile, although coming from someone dressed like, well, that… Makoto felt a flutter that definitely wasn’t from the petticoats.

“Maybe,” Nagito continued, “you were meant to have both.”  He held out his wand, for a second having to use one hand to pry open the fingers of the other, and then shoved it into Makoto’s arms.

Nothing happened.  Nagito did not revert to the school uniform pants and grey sweater he’d been wearing previously.  Makoto did not, thank all the gods, evolve further ruffles.

“Nope, I think that one’s yours,” he said, and handed it back to a Nagito who looked like he was trying to conceal his relief.

“Well.  Sh…”  Nagito caught Makoto’s eyes.  “…oot.  I’ll be honest; I was expecting some kind of treasure, beads or bells or Sue pots, all the stuff I find all the time on nature walks, and I was going to surprise you with that, but this is beyond even my usual.  Your presence, possibly?  Good luck or bad?  Or is it both?”

“You’ve lost me.”

“Am I the bad luck against your good?  Are we destined to fight, I wonder?”

“You’ve found me again, but no.  No fighting.”  Makoto grabbed his arm.  His… almost bare arm, other than the veil-like sleeves and the thin band of red stone around his wrist.  He was so pretty.  …He was cold.  “Ah, you must be freezing in that!  Why didn’t you say?”

“In this…?”  Nagito blinked.  “Well, I’m always cold, you know.  I don’t actually feel any different, now you mention it.  Maybe even a little warmer…”  He blinked again and only then seemed to notice Makoto’s hand.  A hint of pink invaded the petals of his cheeks.

“Um, well.”  Makoto jerked his hand away and tucked it behind his back where it couldn’t surprise him further (apart from discovering the big silky bow back there, which didn’t surprise him much).  “Maybe petticoats are good for something after all.  Let’s go back to the dorm, shall we?”

“Looking like, um, this?”  Nagito smoothed down the scarlet silk.  He paused to run his hands over some of the dark grey embroidery; arching patterns reminiscent of branches or perhaps shrine archways.  “How ridiculous…”

“You look beautiful,” said Makoto, then slapped both hands over his mouth after the words had already bolted.

Nagito turned almost the colour of his dress.

“I mean… well, you do… but anyway, if we both show up together, we can always say…”  Makoto’s brain creaked with the unaccustomed effort of coming up with a lie, let alone doing so in the presence of an extremely pretty boy.  “We can say we were at a costume party!  Or… or helping my classmate with some designs.  You know, she’s really going to want to look at these.”

“W-well.”  Nagito’s voice was oddly high and choked.  “Well,” he repeated more normally.  “I guess we really can’t stay out here, in any case.  But, if we don’t figure out how to put these things in reverse before tomorrow’s classes…”

“Worry about that tomorrow,” said Makoto more firmly than he felt.  “For now, let’s get home.”  He conscientiously offered Nagito an arm, just in case the ancient cracked flagstones caught on those heels.

Yes, the ruffles might be a little much, but Makoto was definitely glad the magic wand had put him in sensibly flat ballet pumps.  He could even forgive the tiny bows.

“…Hifumi will be so excited when he hears about this.”

First day of Komaegi week!

Sun, 2 Feb:

Cooking -or- Magic

For @twicetheluck

Day 1: Cooking/Magic

He hadn’t been learning magic for terribly long, but he does feel like he’s gotten to know Komaeda surprisingly well. His peer is a bit soft-spoken, but also kind and calm. With a gentle smile and fluffy white hair, Komaeda had been the first one besides their master to make him feel welcome. He later learned that in spite of that easygoing demeanor—Komaeda could also be a bit of a handful.

Case in point was the still smoking pot and stove from a fire spell gone awry. Their master had managed to put it out before the entire building burst into flames, but Matsuda was the one to harshly scold Komaeda for the event.

“You know how bad you are with fire and cooking so why the actual hell did you combine the two?! Negatives don’t cancel out like that in magic!”

“Sorry, Matsuda-kun! I really am so, so hapless! A wretched being like me—the fact that I’m even privileged enough to use magic is such a disgrace!”

“Oi, oi, self-deprecating just makes it worse!”

“Matsuda-kun!” He had to step in between them, waving his arms placatingly. “It was an honest mistake. Komaeda-kun feels terrible. We should be glad it wasn’t too bad.”

“Ah, Naegi-kun,” Komaeda exhales. “You don’t need to defend me.”

“We’re all learning,” Naegi pointed out, still meeting Matsuda’s cold, irritable gaze. “Of course mistakes are going to be made. It’s inevitable as we train to become better sorcerers.”

Komaeda sucked in his breath. Matsuda sighed, waving his hand.

“Just don’t get us all killed before we graduate. That’s my concern.”

“I-I would never,” Komaeda stammered.

“Let’s just work together, Matsuda-kun,” Naegi said, offering his hand with a sad smile.

Matsuda just rebuffed him, turning on his heel and stomping away with a huff. Naegi’s smile fell, and Komaeda laughed softly before spinning him around.

“Naegi-kun, you really are too kind! I didn’t need your defense, you know!” Komaeda’s beaming so much it’s blinding. “If you keep arguing with Matsuda-kun, it’ll hurt your chances of working well with him!”

“That’s…” Naegi frowned. “I wasn’t arguing. I know you meant well, so you don’t deserve to feel more terrible about it than you already do. And Matsuda-kun can be a little too sharp.”

He takes Komaeda’s hands in his own and squeezes. He can feel that they’re a bit worn, likely from nights spent practicing his seals. It’s true that Komaeda was prone to many disasters and mistakes—but it was undeniable that the other worked hard.

I can’t help but admire him for that.

“You wanted to make a meal, right?” Naegi asked sweetly. “How about we try again, and this time I help you?”

Komaeda yanked himself away as if he had been burned. His cheeks were bright red.

“T-That…”

“Come on,” Naegi urged, chuckling as he offered his hand once more. “I think I’ve figured out how to cook eggs with magic if nothing else.”

Komaeda’s lips twitched.

“Aha. Eggs. I see.”

After another drawn-out pause, Komaeda nodded but avoided taking his hand again.