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You stilled your hand in front of the vending machine. Shit. Wrong drink.
You hated soda.
You found out about it the moment you met Nagito Komaeda for the very first time, on your first day of school; he was sitting in front of you, a tower of cans blocking your view from your tutor Yukizome. It was starting to get annoying, and even if you didn't exactly feel like interrupting the class to ask for a different seat (there weren't any tables left, you were the last one to arrive) or even ask for him to put the cans away (but really, those were a lot of cans... where else would he even put all those? And how did he even get so many?).
You ended up quietly shrinking in your seat and sliding down until your back was uncomfortably pressed against the chair— it was whatever, you'd just listen to whatever your new teacher was saying about the school's regulations, your new schedule, discipline, fun and yadda yadda.
Your mind was starting to drift off until you saw a swift change of the shadows in your peripheral vision, which made you snap your head up, only to see a couple of light green eyes along with a sheepish smile from the guy in front of you.
"Ah, I'm sorry for disturbing you, but... would you like to exchange seats with me?" If his whispering were any lower, you might've missed it. You hummed questioningly, prompting him to continue. He just laughed quietly. "I've noticed you must be having a little trouble seeing with all these cans in front of you... you can barely see from the tiny gaps, but it's still better than nothing."
You looked at the cans, and then at your classmate again.
"It's alright, really. I can still hear Miss Yukizome, so I don't mind them that much." You smiled politely, which he returned with a gleeful squint of his eyes, his own smile never faltering.
"Ah, of course, however you prefer. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience." He quietly turned his back to you again, seemingly content in leaving it like that.
He apologized twice in the couple times he referred to you. Well, whatever. You paid attention to Yukizome.
"And just because it's your first day, you get to go home early today! Alright everyone, I'll see you tomorrow!" Your eyes closed in annoyance. Home? Right now? "And remember that if I don't see you guys here at exactly a quarter past eight in the morning... with 20 minutes to spare... I'll come back for you myself again!"
Most of the class groaned in unison, footsteps and shuffling filling your senses. You stayed unmoving, eyes stuck in the tower of cans looming in front of you, mind lost in thought.
Well, you sighed, I certainly cannot go home right now.
A faint thump made you react once again, looking up at your weird fluffy haired classmate, who had put one of his many sodas in your table. You blinked.
"Here, you can have it if you want. You could easily tell I have plenty to spare." He sighed. You could properly hear his voice now, airy and low...
Ah, You realized, He must've thought I was staring directly at his cans.
"That's very nice of you! Thank you very much, um..."
"I'm Nagito Komaeda. Nice to meet you." He raised his hand and gave you a friendly wave.
You did the same, puffing air through your nostrils amusingly.
"Nice to meet you, Komaeda. I'm Y/N, the Ultimate Puppeteer. I'm sorry I couldn't introduce myself earlier, seeing as I arrived too late for introductions..."
"Oh, don't worry, I already knew about you anyway!" Komaeda quickly interfered. He must've noticed your now confused stance, as he quickly raised his other hand to 'shield' himself with a sheepish smile. "That must've sounded weird, I apologize. I just did my research about the class before coming here... it's only natural to be curious about it, since there's nothing more amazing than getting to share a class full of incredible talented people such as yourself!"
You hummed in response, raising yourself from your sitting position to then begin to pack the can of soda and the rest of your belongings inside your bag. You pondered for a moment.
"I see. You sound very excited to be around us, being an Ultimate yourself." Now fully standing up, you realized he stood a couple heads taller than you. Man, he was really tall. A lanky person. You walked towards the exit of the now empty classroom, stopping after reaching it, and you looked at him again. "What's your talent by the way?"
He followed you outside the door, keeping his distance polite between the two of you while you walked. You could hear his (filled to the brim) bag jingle with metallic sounds with every step he took. When did he even pack all those cans?
"Ah...well I guess there's no escaping it. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student." A soft scoff made you briefly glance at him while he stared ahead, and you could see how a grimace took over his almost timid smile. "This is no talent though. I couldn't possibly be considered an Ultimate, not with my luck, and certainly not me." He met your eyes, smiling again.
"You sound so hard on yourself." You hummed, eyes facing forward again. "I think you should give yourself some credit, especially if you were the chosen one amongst many others to attend Hope's Peak. Luck or chance, you can't deny you were lucky to get picked." You missed the way he gaped at you, an expression of horror making its way to his face.
"Oh, please don't get me wrong, just the thought of getting to come back here tomorrow makes me ecstatic! I really am the luckiest..." He grabbed the strap of his bag with difficulty, groaning quietly as he tried following your pace. You frowned at the bag. "I just feel unworthy of it. That's all. It's still unbelievable, that a guy like me would be able to attend such prestigious school. No, not just that, but Hope's Peak itself!" He laughed bitterly. "It's even harder to believe that I'm having this conversation with the Ultimate Puppeteer themselves too. Please excuse my behavior."
"Oh, you got it wrong... I already got a feeling you were happy to be here." After all, in the little conversation you two shared while walking to the school's gate, he did nothing but praise you and the rest of the Ultimates. It was kind of easy to detect. "I'm just saying... that you're the Ultimate Lucky Student for a reason. And that you should totally think of yourself as an equal, because whether you think lowly of it or not, you are an Ultimate now." If he was going to say anything else, you quickly cut him off with a nod at his bag. "Need any help with those?"
Komaeda quickly shook his head, hands gripping tightly at the straps. "Don't worry about it. I'm handling it just fine."
And as if the moment was snatched away from a sitcom, you immediately heard a ripping sound. Every soda can inside of Komaeda's bag dropped to the ground, somehow each and every one of them bursting and flying around nonstop, not staining but soaking your uniforms. You covered your face from the sudden fizzy attack, though your hair was not spared, and you waited a good minute until it finally stopped. Silence and a sugary smell filled Hope's Peak entrance. Both of you stayed still for a while, until Komaeda spoke up.
"I'm deeply sorry for all that. I should've known..." He shamefully watched as you twirled a sticky strand of hair behind your ears, your hairstyle now ruined. "My luck really is unpredictable. It must've acted up when I started talking to someone like you... I should've definitely known better." He mumbled the last part to himself.
Yet you caught that. You frowned.
"What do you mean by that? It was just an accident. Something like that was prone to happen, your bag looked as if it was about to combust itself." You giggled.
Komaeda began collecting the empty, smashed cans surrounding the both of you. His smile reached his face once again, though a bit more saddened. "No, I assure you, it's all my fault." Your classmate threw away an armful of cans to a nearby trash can while you kept trying to get the liquid out of your hair. His didn't look any better, all of it miserably wetted down. "My luck is just like that. Whenever something good happens, something bad or even more awful must follow."
"I see... So you're not just a Lucky Student, huh?" You noticed a soaked pencil case and a notebook laying on the ground, so you grabbed them. These were the only items that fell from Komaeda's bag. You reached out for him again, approaching him as he looked at the trash can with a distant look. "No matter though. It's a relief I didn't bring any of my dolls nor materials with me today, so I guess I should call myself lucky, hm?"
He snapped his head back up gaping at you, eyes round in disbelief. He took the pencil case and notebook from you then, throwing the latter in the trash can as well as the pages were no longer useful, along with what was left of his bag. He carried the pencil case in his hands.
"If you put it like that... that's some hopeful way to look at the situation." He pathetically chuckled at himself.
Smiling widely, you shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a pretty hopeful and optimistic person myself. Now come on, let's get out of here already. We're probably the only soda soaked losers roaming around Hope's Peak on their first day."
Nagito looked at you once again, though you missed the way his eyes sparkled and body freezed as you kept making your way towards the gate, while the sole of your shoes kept comically squelching on the concrete.
Komaeda had never seen anyone else's figure stand so pretty in the middle of the sun while being bathed by sticky soda until now.