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This was not the way Komaeda imagined his life in Hope’s Peak Academy would play out. He was supposed to stand behind the scenes and observe the hope radiating from the Ultimates in the school, not interact with them and be a barrier to their hope. If dealing with luck his entire life had taught him anything, it was that getting too close to people was a bad idea.
But to be fair, he wasn’t too sure Ouma Kokichi counted as a person.
“Komaeda-chan!” was his only warning before Ouma tackled him from behind, wrapping his arms around his middle.
Komaeda chuckled and struggled to stand back up. “You really shouldn’t be doing that, especially to someone like me, Ouma-kun.”
Ouma pouted but released him, only to hold his hand immediately after. “When have I ever listened to anyone?”
Komaeda could count those moments on one hand (and noticed all of those moments only ever happened with one person, but he was in no position to mention that). “Ah, good point.”
“Welllll? Tell me! How did your exams go?”
Exams in Hope’s Peak Academy consisted of a personalized exam meant to challenge the talents of the Ultimate students. In his class, he could remember Nanami telling him about some sort of brand new notoriously difficult game she had to beat in one hour and Souda complaining about the crappy tools he had been equipped with for his exam.
But before Komaeda could respond to his question with a snarky response, he locked eyes with a raven-haired student across the courtyard.
The student was part of the main course, as evidenced by the tan jacket around his shoulders. He held a black cap in his hands and seemed to be doing a horrible job of paying attention to whatever the student next to him was saying, as he was preoccupied staring at someone else.
“Ouma-kun,” Komaeda breathed, “I didn’t know you had a spy. That’s amazing!”
Ouma’s face betrayed a split second of confusion before breaking into a wide grin. “Of course! His name’s Saihara Shuuichi, he’s the best at spying. But now that I told you that, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Bleh. Threats are no fun with you.”
“I apologize.” Komaeda suppressed a smirk upon seeing Saihara’s grip on his hat tighten when Ouma beamed up at Komaeda instead of him. “It may not be in my place to say this, but your spy seems to have a penchant for spying on you.”
Ouma whipped back around to Saihara, only for Saihara to turn back to the student next to him in what had to be the world’s record in pretending like he wasn’t staring.
“I would’ve expected you to be more subtle than that,” Komaeda tsked. “Though I suppose you’re still learning. You’re a first-year, after all.”
“Saihara-chan was staring at me…?” Ouma whispered, the smile on his face blanked out.
“Yes. It’s not every day you see such a stunning array of hope.”
Ouma elbowed him and stuck out his tongue. “Oh, shut it with the hope talk. I’d say he’s just staring at your old-man hair.”
“That’s also a possibility,” Komaeda mused, but he wasn’t blind nor naive. He had witnessed his classmates go through the same process and complicated emotions, powerless to do anything. He’d be damned if he allowed such a young source of hope to go through the same pain. “Say, Ouma-kun, didn’t you have an appointment with the Ultimate Inventor?”
Ouma froze before sighing and releasing his hand. “Ugh, that stupid bitch asked me to test out her pancake maker. Do I have to go?”
“You two are friends, are you not?”
“No! I hate her!”
“Of course. Silly me.” Komaeda smiled when Ouma gave him a quick hug before he took off towards the main course building. “Goodbye, Ouma-kun! Have fun with Iruma-san!”
Ouma gave him the middle finger over his shoulder.
He could always count on Ouma being a source of fun, but now there was someone new to play with.
Komaeda directed a friendly wave at the person approaching him. “Ah, you must be Saihara-kun. The Ultimate Detective, right?”
Saihara gulped and nodded, his anxiety showing through the way his fingers fiddled with the base of his cap. “That’s, um… technically correct, but I don’t really think I can be called that if there’s already an Ultimate Detective in the school.”
“Nonsense. Both of you are shining examples of hope. Now, what have you come to talk to worthless old me about?”
Saihara blinked, seemingly taken aback by the self-deprecation. “You’re not worthless. Nobody here is.”
Such a boring response. Komaeda really had no clue what Ouma saw in him. Still, an Ultimate was an Ultimate, and he was to show utmost respect.
“Anyway,” Saihara said. He took in a sharp breath before locking eyes with him. “You know… You know upperclassmen aren’t really supposed to date first-years, right?”
Komaeda blinked.
Well, this was a new development.
“My apologies,” Komaeda said slowly, “But who exactly am I dating?”
“Are you not dating Ouma-kun?”
Oh. Those were all the clues Komaeda needed. He may not have been the most socially adept, but he knew how to push at buttons.
“Is there a problem?” Komaeda asked, careful to keep his tone light and his smile carefree. His efforts were rewarded with Saihara stumbling over his words.
“Of course there’s a problem! It’s immoral to take advantage of someone’s naivety like that, especially a first-year’s.”
“I would hardly call Ouma-kun a naive person. Are you saying he can’t make decisions on his own?”
“I-I mean, he’s smart enough to know that, but… why are you hanging around him anyway? You should be around the upperclassmen, right?”
“I like pretty things.”
“You like… pretty things…”
And thus began the cycle of Komaeda pushing at Saihara’s comfort zone, but not enough to make him angry enough to storm out of the conversation. With every question, Saihara’s voice became more and more unconfident, and by the end of their discussion, he looked ready to cry.
“Fine!” Saihara said, his lips trembling. “You can have Ouma-kun. Just… please treat him well, okay?”
Komaeda raised an eyebrow. “But I’m not dating him.”
“... What?”
“I’m not dating Ouma-kun.”
“Then why did you—”
“To make sure you will be.”
Saihara’s face burned bright red. “H-Hold on, I never said I—”
“But it’s apparent, isn’t it? Your jealousy shined through in every sentence you said, and it was clear in the way you were staring at us earlier this afternoon. You turned away when he caught you. And unless you were his mother or something of the sort, you would not be scolding me so intensely for ‘dating’ him. The only logical conclusion is that you are the one in love with Ouma-kun.”
Saihara gaped at him, his eyes wide with surprise. “I… Was it that obvious?”
“Perhaps, but it’s not my place to decide,” Komaeda said, “In any case, I believe Ouma-kun is single. If you don’t make a move on him soon, someone else will.”
A blatant lie. There was nobody else Ouma would accept a confession from. Ouma’s habits were rubbing off on him.
Surprisingly, Saihara didn’t catch onto the lie. “B-But… what if he doesn’t like me back?”
“How will you know if you never ask?” Komaeda smiled and moved to pat him on the shoulder before stopping himself. Trash like him couldn’t taint the clothes of an Ultimate, no matter how naive he thought they were being. “Take this as advice from an upperclassmen. You’ll regret missing your opportunity when you grow older.”
“You’re… You’re right,” Saihara said. He straightened his back. “Do you know where he is?”
“He had an appointment with Iruma-san, but at this point, he’s probably hiding from security in your room.”
“He’s in… ugh, I’ll get him out. Thank you, Komaeda-senpai.”
Komaeda shrugged. “It’s the least trash like me could do for an Ultimate.”
“But you’re not—”
“Go!”
With that, Saihara rushed towards the dorms, his face determined and fists clenched.
Komaeda brushed his hands off and headed to his own dorm, delighted at the amount of hope he had been witness to. There was no doubt there would be even more hope sparking from today’s events, and his heart tingled at the thought.
And if he saw Ouma and Saihara holding hands at the fountain the next day, that was none of his business.