Another night loomed closer, but Hajime couldn't find it in himself to look forward to it. This entire week had been so exhausting and confusing, that by the time it was over, he still found himself denying that it ever happened.

He was tired, tired of everything, and he wished he could just leave here. Leave the island, the murders, the betrayal, the despair, and just forget about it all. He wanted that so much, so much it hurt, but then two faces came to mind, and he knew that he couldn't. He was so confused.

A week ago, when Monokuma had introduced them to the despair disease, he would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid that another murder would occur, but he had faith. Faith in his friends and in himself. He had faith that if they worked hard to keep the disease under control, then they would surely be able to stop it. But as soon as he had laid eyes on that eerily recorded video, that faith had been utterly crushed. He could still feel the pure terror he had felt as he'd watched it.

Looking back, he realized that there was nothing he could have done. By the time that video began to play, Ibuki and Hiyoko were already dead. He knew that, but even so, he couldn't help but think that if only he'd noticed Mikan's change in behavior, all of this could have been prevented.

Groaning, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and suppressed the urge to scream. He had been with Mikan the entire time, he should have noticed, but he didn't, and now three of his friends were dead. This was probably his fault, he thought with regret.

Earlier that day, after the class trial had ended, everyone had separated to go back to their own rooms, and Hajime had done the same. Being alone to his own thoughts proved to be extremely unsettling though, so he decided to go out for some fresh air, clear his mind, and hope to forget.

Now, having no idea how he'd gotten here, he suddenly found himself standing outside the hospital on the third island. Honestly, this was the last place he wanted to be, and he wondered why in the world his mind thought it would be a good idea to take him here.

Looking at this place only worsened his mood, and for some reason he couldn't get the sight of a sick Nagito laying in a hospital bed out of his mind. Out of everyone who was affected by the despair disease, Nagito's condition had by far been the worst, and he now realized that he had been terrified that he was going to lose him.

That wasn't right though, was it? He was supposed to hate him, maybe even wish for his death, but as he walked along the path, away from the hospital, he realized those feelings of hate had disappeared long ago. They were now replaced with something different, something he couldn't really explain, and he searched desperately for a word to describe it.

When none came, he decided to forget about it, all of it, and began to walk back towards his cabin.

His cabin sat exactly where it always had, and he didn't know why he expected any different. Perhaps he found it odd that even after someone else's life had stopped, his kept moving, time kept moving, and there were people who would live their entire lives not knowing what had happened to them. He realized that he wanted something to be different, even something small, just to show that they had even lived at all.

He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind though, figuring the only thing he could do now was move on, and took a step towards his cabin. Eyes downcast, his hand wrapped around the knob, and the door opened with little resistance.

"Good evening, Hajime!" Came Nagito's sing song voice from inside.

Suddenly alert, Hajime's eyes snapped open, and his head jerked up. "Nagito, why are you-" He began, but cut himself off when he caught sight of the scene before him.

Inside his cabin, Nagito was sitting on his bed smiling and waving at him. On it's own, this would be fairly normal, but what surprised him was Chiaki, who was casually sitting on Nagito's lap. Eyes focused on her game, she acted like this was totally normal, and Hajime was pretty sure she didn't even notice him come in.

"W-what are you doing?!" He yelled after regaining his composure.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Nagito asked, his expression caked with concern. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Quickly closing the door behind him, and storming over to his bed, Hajime looked at the two in disbelief. "Why are you two sitting like that? You look like some sort of couple!" He pointed out, and Nagito's eyes widened in sudden realization.

"Oh, I see." He said with a smirk, causing the other boy to become uneasy. "Hajime, are you jealous?"

He definitely was not jealous, but before Hajime could even voice his disagreement with that statement, Chiaki yawned and rubbed at her eye. "Good evening, Hajime." She drawled, and he had to wonder if she really just now noticed him. "I was beginning to worry that you'd never show up."

"This is my own cabin!" He reminded her, but she had already returned to playing her game, and most likely didn't even hear him.

"Hey, Chiaki are you even lis-" He began, but as Nagito suddenly grabbed onto his wrist and pulled, the rest of his sentence was never heard. "W-whoa!" He gasped as he lost his balance, and tumbled downwards towards the bed.

To his dismay he landed directly on top of Chiaki and Nagito, and with a yelp they all fell into a heap on his mattress. "Aw, man...My game." Chiaki pouted, and Hajime realized that she must have dropped it in the process of falling over.

"Sorry!" He gasped, but then when she simply shrugged, he turned to Nagito and scowled. "What the hell was that for?!" He asked in annoyance.

Nagito only laughed cheerfully at the question, seemingly unaffected from Hajime's anger. "You seemed really unhappy." He said, as if that explained anything, and flashed an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, well great. Now I'm even more unhappy. Good job." Hajime said sarcastically, but despite his words, he didn't even attempt to get up. Instead, still tired from the trial, he closed his eyes and sighed.

'That's right, there was a trial.' He thought, and the entire room seemed to grow quiet as if they all remembered at exactly the same time.

The air began to grow heaving among them as an awkward silence settled in it's place, and he briefly wondered how he ever forgot. But then he realized it was because of them again. They always helped him forget, and he was thankful for that.

Slowly opening his eyes, he glanced towards Nagito as if to make sure he was still there. Seeing that he was, he subconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Every time he looked at the pale boy, he expected to see a hospital gown and an expression of agony. This was most likely the result of spending three days looking after him while he was sick, and Hajime hoped he would never have to go through that again.

Suddenly breaking the silence, Chiaki rolled off of nagito and sat up on the corner of the bed. They both looked to her expectantly, but her eyes were downcast and she seemed to have no intention of speaking. He wasn't sure, but Hajime could almost swear he saw her blushing.

Thinking over whether or not it was a good idea to speak, she let out a deep sigh, and summoned all her courage. "I..." she said when she found it, and both boys waited patiently for her to continue.

"I want my first kiss to be with one of you." She finished, her eyes never leaving a single spot on the floor, and Hajime's heart skipped a beat at her words.

It was more of a statement than a request, but he knew exactly what she meant, and he had no idea how to answer. It came so suddenly and unexpectedly that he had to wonder if he heard her right, so instead he just lay there, wide eyes fixed to her back, as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

Nagito was much faster to react, and seemed to have no problem with hearing her words. "Okay." He said, and when she slowly turned her head to him, he smiled.

She smiled back now, and Hajime realized that seeing him sick must have affected her just as much as it affected him. "Okay." She mirrored, and Nagito sat up next to her in order to fulfill her request.

The way Nagito pulled them together, and the way their heads tilted just right, and the way Chiaki struggled to find a place to put her hands just seemed all too perfect and right to be real.

Saying he was surprised would be an understatement. He was shocked, bewildered, utterly aghast. Any of these were perfect descriptions for what he was feeling at that moment, but even so, he didn't feel jealous, or disappointed, or even confused. He just felt...surprised. And that was all.

Thinking back to all the nights they'd spent together, all the moments they'd shared, he realized that there was only one explanation, and as Chiaki and Nagito pulled away, their eyes locking and their breathing heavy, everything made sense.

"Hmm, I see..." Chiaki said with a thoughtful expression, Nagito's hands still cupping her cheeks. "So this is what it feels like."

Nagito giggled at her remark, and let his hands drop back to his sides. "I guess so." He said, as if he wasn't quite sure himself, and Hajime wondered if that had been his first kiss as well.

Realizing that he hadn't said a single word this entire time, Hajime quietly sat up, and the other two looked towards him with cautious expressions, as if checking to see if this was alright. He only stared back at them, didn't speak, didn't move, and felt a deep blush forming on his cheeks at the sudden attention.

with each passing second it became harder and harder to hold their unsure gazes, so he looked to the side and fiddled with his thumbs. "I...think I'm in love with both of you." He suddenly confessed, and it was like the last tiny puzzle piece had finally been put in place.

Nagito and Chiaki simultaneously let out a sigh of relief, and though it was a reassuring gesture it seemed to bring him back to reality, because when he looked back up to them, his eyes widening and his mouth agape, he realized that he had said that out loud.

Hajime's face flared red and he jerked back. It wasn't like he didn't want to say that, but everything was happening so suddenly and so unexpectedly that he had surprised even himself with his own words.

Chiaki moved towards him now, and for a second he thought that she might kiss him too, but when she simply wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, he felt his heart beating even faster. The tips of his fingers felt numb, and his head was all fuzzy. Was this really happening?

Hajime could do nothing but breathe as he looked towards Nagito in shock, and when their gazes met, the white haired boy only smiled at him reassuringly. But somehow, in that moment, Hajime's doubts vanished, and he slowly returned Chiaki's hug.

"There are a lot of things I still don't understand..." She whispered into his shirt, and he could feel her heart beating faster against him with every word. "For example," She began as she pulled away to look him in the eyes. "I know how babies are made, but I don't really know how to fall in love with someone...That sort of thing."

Nagito and Hajime's faces turned red at her choice of words, and they both exchanged awkward glances. Why would she use that as an example?!

"Oh, what happened? Both of your faces are all red." She observed as she turned from one to the other with a confused expression.

"N-nothing happened..!" Hajime quickly denied, and Nagito nodded his head in agreement.

"Don't worry about it." He laughed.

Sighing, she pushed it aside and continued. "Just as I thought, there's still a bunch of stuff I don't know anything about. I want to know more about a lot of things! Cuz if I do, I'll be able to understand much more...I think." Then, with a hopeful expression, she looked towards both of them and hesitantly smiled. "So...can you both keep teaching me?" She requested at last.

"I think we can do that, right Hajime?" Nagito decided, and Hajime hurried to agree.

"Yeah, of coarse!" He replied, all of his previous doubts forgotten. "But in order to do that...we need to hurry up and get off this island."

It could have just been his imagination, but for a second he thought he saw Chiaki's smile falter, and he wondered if he had said the wrong thing. It passed quickly though, and her smile was now back in place. It was a beautiful smile, he realized, and he hoped he would get to see it more often.

"...Don't ever forget about me." She said to them after a moment, and Hajime wondered why her words sounded so foreboding. "Even after you get out of here." She finished in a somber tone.

"Huh?" Hajime questioned, wondering why she would say something like that, but when he heard Nagito laugh carelessly from his side, he figured it really was just his imagination.

"I think I really am finally in love." Nagito said, and it was so cheesy and ridiculous that Hajime half expected him to be joking. But this was Nagito, and there was no way he'd joke about something like that, so Hajime just laughed and agreed.

"Yeah." He said with an awkward smile, and Chiaki nodded her head to show that she felt the same.

Nagito smiled sweetly at their response, and Chiaki picked up her DS, and as he looked at the two that had unexpectedly made their way into his life, Hajime wished these peaceful nights would last forever.

It's finally over! To be honest I'm kinda sad about that. I had a ton of fun writing this and seeing what you guys thought about it along the way. I barely ever write fanfics, so it was a pretty new experience for me, and I feel like it really helped me grow as a writer.

Anyway, I really hope this last chapter didn't seem too rushed or anything. I also hope that everyone liked how it ended. If not, then dry your tears because I'm thinking about writing a one shot sequel! I'm not exactly sure when it'll be posted, but it'll be about the events of chapter 5 of the game... So basically, there'll be bunch of angst.

Thank you so much for reading this! Especially everyone who was with me from the very beginning. Your comments motivated me to continue, and without them I don't know if I would have been able to finish. So pretty much, you're the best.

Thank you again, and see you next time!